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SC allows man to meet daughter who has accused him of killing her mother
A bench, headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, called the situation “difficult” as the child had recorded her statement as an eyewitness to her mother’s murder at their home in Haryana’s Bhiwani in January 2020
The Supreme Court has allowed a man to meet his daughter, who has accused him of killing her mother, saying it would be “in the best interest” of the six-year-old to maintain her relationship with him, especially since the charges were yet to be proved.
A bench, headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, called the situation “difficult” as the child had recorded her statement as an eyewitness to her mother’s murder at their home in Haryana’s Bhiwani in January 2020. It added she later gave a different version to a judge in the Rajasthan high court where her maternal grandfather had gone for her custody. She told the high court that her father might not be responsible for her mother’s death.
The bench also noted that even though the child had also accused her paternal grandparents of helping her father strangulate her mother, the trial court could not find any evidence against the grandparents and they were thus exonerated last year.
The father has been charged with dowry death under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code because of the girl’s testimony. He was currently out on bail, said the court in its order last month.
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“This thus throws some question marks on how much the child can be believed in the given situation. There are findings by the magistrate and in the impugned order which seek to suggest that both the sides, i.e., the maternal and the paternal side may be tutoring the child in their respective perspectives,” held the bench, which also included justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy.
“However, we are concerned with protecting the interest of the child who has already suffered a trauma of the loss of the mother...it is appropriate for the proper upbringing of the child that interaction with the father be maintained in this period of time as the trial is yet to take place.”
The bench then said that it would be appropriate if the interaction between the child and the father and her paternal grandparents could take place. It added the custody of the child should continue with her maternal grandfather and the maternal aunt in Rajasthan.
“We thus remit the matter back to the Rajasthan high court on the limited issue of making appropriate arrangements for the visiting rights of the father and the paternal grandparents of the child while maintaining the impugned order of giving custody to the maternal side as it is.”
The bench was hearing a petition by the father and his parents, who wanted custody of the child. The court concluded that it would not be prudent to disturb the custody but accepted that the girl must have an association with her father and the paternal grandparents.
