The Karnataka High Court denied interim custody order of a child to the father on the grounds that he had remarried and the step mother would not be able to take care of and show affection to children which biological mothers instinctively would. The court was hearing a custody battle between a father and mother who had parted ways.
A single-judge bench comprising Justice Krishna S Dixit dismissed a petition challenging a family court order in Bengaluru and denied the father custody but accorded visitation rights, Bar and Bench reported. The judge said that an affidavit from the second wife that she would take care of the child would be of little solace to the biological mother.
“It does not appear that, excepting the respondent’s wife, there is any female relation living with him competent to take proper care of the child. It would be hardly safe to presume that his wife, the child’s step-mother, would be willing to do so… There is good reason for believing that the maternal relations have strong affection for the child,” the bench noted a judgement from an earlier case – TN. Muthuveerappa Chetty vs. T.R. Ponnuswami Chetty.
The plea was filed by the father contending that he was in a better position to take care of the child from a financial perspective and provide him with the best upbringing, education and a complete family environment. The petitioner also contended that the mother had neglected her duties towards the minor child and the petitioner, as per the Bar and Bench report.
The court, however, noted, “His contention that he is financially well placed and educationally superior does not make much difference to the custody issue, when all necessities of the child are duly met by the respondent-mother.”
From long and multiple interactions with the parties and the child, the Court derived that the child was being groomed well by the respondent and the child too wished to continue in her custody.
The court also said that if the custody was given to the petitioner, the mother would end up all alone while the petitioner will live with the child and a wife.
Therefore, the petition was dismissed with costs of ₹50,000 which the petitioner was directed pay to the respondent within a month, failing which the Court directed that the visitation rights granted by the Family Court would be suspended.
Before concluding, Justice Dixit also urged the courts dealing with the issues between the two parties to dispose of the petitions before them within a period of nine months and report compliance to the Registrar General of the High Court.
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