Custody of a child can’t only be decided on monetary matters: HC

The court also said that in cases of estranged couples fighting for the custody of their child, if one parent is given custody, then another parent should be given visitation rights so that the child can meet his other parent

The Allahabad high court has held that every child has the right to be in care and company of both parents who, together, are a child’s world.

The court also held that every child has the right to be in care and company of both parents who, together, are a child’s world. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The court also said that in cases of estranged couples fighting for the custody of their child, if one parent is given custody, then another parent should be given visitation rights so that the child can meet his other parent.

The court further held that issues related to the custody of a child can’t only be decided on monetary factors, rather factors like intellectual guidance and moral training by parents, which are important facets of a child’s grooming, must also be considered while deciding the issue of child custody.

Justice JJ Munir allowed the writ petition filed by a woman seeking custody of her four- year-old son, who was allegedly forcibly taken away by her husband.

According to petitioner, she and her husband had married on April 20, 2014 and the boy was born on September 20, 2016.

As her husband used to torture her for dowry, therefore, in June 2018, she returned to her mother’s house with her son.

The petitioner’s contention was that on April 6, 2019, her husband forcibly took the child away from her custody. Therefore, she was entitled to get custody of her son.

The father’s contention was that he was a farmer who earned around ₹1.5 lakh per annum but the petitioner had no personal source of income and was fully dependant on earnings from her ancestral agricultural land.

After hearing the parties concerned, the court observed, “The mother is an educated woman and a post graduate in education. She is far better educated than the father. The welfare of the young child is not dependent on material resources alone. It requires a lot more. Literal and then intellectual guidance, besides moral training are important facets of a child’s grooming. This court finds that all these would be better secured with the mother than the father.”

The court directed the father to give the custody of the child to the mother. The court also directed the mother to allow the father to meet his son on the second and fourth Sunday of every month.