Child Custody Cases: While hearing a case related to the custody of a child, the High Court has reprimanded the parents. The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court says that children should not be considered as toys of the parents. Along with this, the High Court said that the interest of the child should be given top priority. The court ordered both the mother and the father to take equal care of the child during the summer vacation.
A petition was filed in the High Court on behalf of the girl's mother. The petition challenges the order of the Family Court dated May 8. The Family Court gave custody of 7 weeks to the father and 5 weeks to the mother. Justice Bharat Deshpande's bench was hearing the petition.
What did the court say?
The court heard that it is important to note here that parents should not treat the child as a toy to compensate for visitation rights. It is important to treat the child like a human being and most importantly, the child's best interests should come first. The order was issued in the court on June 14.
the child's parents
The child's parents are American citizens and were married in California and the child was born in Paris in 2019. After some time, their relationship soured and the father came to Goa with the child. At that time, the California court handed over the custody of the child to the father in a one-sided order.
Then the mother also came to India and together they approached the Family Court in Mapusa. Importantly, the High Court has also stated in the order that it has modified an order of the Family Court of June 2023 in October 2023. Then the custody of the child was given to the mother and the right of visitation was given to the father.
Mother knocked at the door of High Court
Reportedly, the father could not visit the child due to ill health and filed an application in the Mapusa Family Court for the custody of the child during school holidays. Now in the order issued by the Family Court on May 8, the father has been given custody for 7 weeks and the mother for 5 weeks. Now the mother has approached the High Court against him.
Giving 7 weeks custody to the father is against the best interests of the child
During the hearing in the High Court, the judge said that giving 7 weeks custody to the father is against the interest of the child. Along with this, he said that at such a young age, the company of the mother is more important for him. The court has asked to divide the custody time equally between the parents. In such a situation, 11 weeks will be divided equally between the two and both will get custody of 5 weeks each.