This May 2015 judgment of Mumbai Bandra family court is the first in India which in an interim child custody/visitation order, has asked both mother (petitioner) and father (respondent) to make a parenting plan, and has created a shared parenting plan based on those submitted by both of them. It has also explicitly refers to benefits and necessity of Shared Parenting in child custody matters, and to December 2014 recommendations of Law Commission on shared parenting. Following are the main points of the judgment: 1. It has divided the interim custody of daughter for 6 months of the year each to father and mother. There is another Sep 2013 judgment of Karnataka HC which did something similar, but that order was not based on creating a shared parenting plan and did not refer to that … [Read more...] about Mumbai Bandra Family court judgment on joint equally shared custody based on parenting plan
Child Custody
Law commission recommends amendments to HMGA, 1956 and GWA, 1890 for joint custody and shared parenting
Subsequent to Law Commission of India’s invitation to public in Nov 2014 to comment on its consultation paper about custody law reform in India, it has recently released its recommendations to the Law Ministry on amending both Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. Full PDF of report is given below (linked from Law Commission’s website): Law Commission of India Report no 257. Reforms in Guardianship and Custody Laws in India. May 2015 As per the report, there were 125 responses to Law Commission’s invitation for comments. In a country of 1.25 billion, there were only 125 responses! I am not sure if they are counting the responses sent via emails , because the number 125 seems too low. Anyway, maybe … [Read more...] about Law commission recommends amendments to HMGA, 1956 and GWA, 1890 for joint custody and shared parenting
Child’s wish is High Court’s command
See Uttarakhand HC judgment below. What idiocy in name of welfare of child! If a child runs away from home, does the court equate “child’s wish” =”welfare of child” and child should then live as an orphan because effectively that is what child wished for in practical terms? Or does the court rule away minor child’s wish and be returned to parents? Did the court consider the following facts? Child is only 6 years old, not of age where she can express a considered preference. Fact of crying of a 6 years old girl in front of a unfamiliar court room in unfamiliar crowd should be given only that much significance as is required in the context. Courts are implicitly saying they can be manipulated by either parent (mostly mothers) into poisoning or influencing a child’s mind. Just … [Read more...] about Child’s wish is High Court’s command
Unproven criminal charge cannot be deciding factor in custody of child
A recent judgment of a Delhi trial court rejected application of woman asking for daughter’s custody from husband on the grounds that the husband was facing attempt to murder charge. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Man-facing-criminal-cases-gets-daughters-custody/articleshow/5514940.cms NEW DELHI: Is a man accused of "attempt to murder'' fit to raise a child? Well, a trial court seems to think so. Taking an unconventional stand while awarding the custody of a six-and-a-half-year-old child to her father, who has three criminal cases pending against him, a trial court affirmed its point of "not to judge a book by its cover''. First of all, in India the ease with which false cases can be filed by powerful people should make anyone suspicious of judging someone simply by … [Read more...] about Unproven criminal charge cannot be deciding factor in custody of child