The Karnataka High Court emphasized that a father is also the child’s natural guardian and has an equal claim to custody as a woman in a recent judgment that upheld the verdict of a family court in Bengaluru.
Karnataka HC: A Father is also the child’s natural guardian and has an equal claim to custody as a mother
On March 3, 2022, the mother filed an appeal against the family court’s decision to give the father custody of a seven-year-old girl. According to sources, both parents are doctors who reside in Bengaluru.
The mother’s appeal was rejected by a division bench of Justices Alok Aradhe and Vishwajit Shetty, who ruled that if the child is older than five years old, a father’s right cannot be denied unless the court determines that doing so is in the child’s best interests and development.
It also stated that custody should remain with the current custodian. The mother of the appellant has been told to give the child to the father following her annual test.
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Aside from Sunday’s appellant’s mother is entitled to custody of the child from 10 am to 1 pm
The appellant’s mother is entitled to custody of the child from 10 am to 1 pm on all notable days where a school holiday has been proclaimed, with the exception of Sundays.
While the appellant was allegedly meeting someone else in Bengaluru, the court took note of her decision to abandon her marital home and maintain the child with her parents in Panchkula, Haryana.
The panel further noted that the girl had been enrolled in a Bengaluru school following a Supreme Court declaration by the appellant-parents mother’s that they would not provide for the girl.
The couple, both licenced physicians and upstanding individuals, were hoped to change their ways by the bench, if only for the sake of the child who would soon be an adult and needing their assistance.
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