The Karnataka High Court in its order dated January 31, 2023 handed over the custody of a minor girl to her father, as the court found that the child’s mother gave more importance to her illicit relationship with another man.
Case:
The marriage of the appellant-mother with the respondent-father was solemnised as per the Hindu rites and customs in October 2011 and from the said wedlock, a girl child was born in April 2015. Both the parties are Doctors from Bengaluru by profession who got acquainted and married through a matrimonial portal.
At the time of marriage, the respondent-husband’s parents and his sister with her two-year old daughter were staying with him and the appellant-wife was fully aware of the same. She had allegedly consented for the marriage knowing that she had to reside with the respondent along with his family members.
After Decriminalisation Of Adultery Law, Dating App in India Openly Promotes Infidelity By Married Couples
Submission by Father/Husband
After the marriage, the appellant allegedly started quarrelling with his family members and she also used to abuse them and created unpleasant atmosphere in the house. The ill-treatment to the family members by the appellant continued inspite of the respondent advising her and being unable to bear the ill-treatment, the family members of the respondent were constrained to leave the house and they started residing separately.
After the family members had left the house, the appellant had told the respondent that her plan to throw out his family members had worked out and the same trick was played by her mother to get rid of her in-laws. Even after the family members of the respondent started residing separately, the appellant continued her hostile attitude towards them and she even objected the respondent visiting them or supporting them.
The appellant allegedly had grown up in her maternal grandparents house, and therefore, she did not value the family relationship and the bondage, and therefore, she always attempted to separate the respondent from his family members.
After one of the counselling, due to short temper of the wife, the appellant allegedly fought with the respondent, abused him in filthy language, assaulted him and also broke his mobile phone which had forced the respondent to approach the police and file a complaint against her. The appellant was in the habit of picking up quarrel with the respondent in public.
Nisha Is Living In My House With Another Married Man Since 11-Months: Karan Mehra Accuses Estranged Wife Of Adultery
Allegations of Adultery Against Wife/Mother
In the month of February 2016, the appellant had joined Columbia Asia Hospital and started working there on the administrative side. It appears that she came in contact with one Mr X who was also working in the said hospital on the administrative side and she developed illicit relationship with him. After developing illicit relationship with Mr X, the appellant gave priority to the said relationship and virtually abandoned the child who was being taken care of by the respondent and his parents.
The appellant used to stay overnight in her working place and continued her adulterous affair with Mr X who was already married and had a child from the said marriage. Even when the child was sick, the appellant instead of attending the child, had gone to the hospital and the respondent with the help of his parents had to take care of the child.
2014 | Andhra Pradesh HC Judge’s Daughter-in-Law Filed Dowry Harassment During Pendency Of Child Custody Case
Wife Threw In-laws Out From Home
The appellant merrily continued the relationship with Mr X and throughout lied to the respondent. After sometime, the appellant started misbehaving with the respondent’s parents. Till the child was about three-year-old, the parents of the respondent stayed in his house, and thereafter, the appellant started picking up quarrels intentionally and also started abusing them in filthy language and insisted that they should leave the house and during the first week of April 2018, the appellant allegedly threw her in-laws out of the house in the midnight and left them with no choice but to approach the police and lodged a complaint against the appellant.
When the respondent had gone to the police station to see his parents, the appellant allegedly took the child and left the house without even informing the respondent, and thereafter, filed a police complaint before the J.P.Nagar Police Station alleging domestic violence and dowry demand against the respondent and his parents.
READ ORDER | Occasional Adultery By Wife Cannot Be A Ground To Deny Maintenance To Wife: Delhi High Court
Defense by Wife/Mother
At the family court in Bengaluru, the wife/mother had filed her objections denying the petition averments and allegations made against her, while admitting the marriage and the birth of the child.
She contended that the respondent and his parents had demanded dowry at the time of marriage, and therefore, in addition to cash, lot of jewellery was also given to the respondent and his family members by her parents at the time of marriage. She has stated that prior to the marriage, the respondent had never told her that his parents and his sister who had a minor daughter were staying with him. She also stated that there were many people living in respondent’s house, and therefore, there was no sufficient food for her in the house and on the other hand, the respondent’s family members were abusing her and demanding money from her and she was not allowed to go out anywhere.
She also stated that they did not allow her parents to visit her nor they allowed her to visit her parents, and therefore, her father would stay in a hotel nearby and would meet her outside the house. She has stated that she was made to do all the household work and even food was served by her to all the members of the family in their home. She was being ill-treated, abused and assaulted in the house, and therefore, she had lodged a police complaint, and thereafter, appellant’s parents moved out of the house.
She also stated that the previous marriage of the respondent was broken because he and his family members had demanded money from his first wife and her parents. She has stated that the respondent had no love and affection towards her but he only had physical relationship with her to satisfy his lust. The respondent used to come home late and start shouting at her and inspite of she tolerating all the ill-treatment, the the respondent and his family members always treated her in hostility and she was not properly taken care of even during the period of her pregnancy.
The respondent allegedly was in the habit of taking all her money, and therefore, she was always dependent on her father for financial help.
Delhi Court | Mother Prefers Her Own Enjoyment; Custody Of Both Minor Children Given To Father
Family Court, Bengaluru
Since the child was growing in a unholy atmosphere in the midst of an illicit relationship between the appellant and her paramour Mr X, the respondent started apprehending that the welfare of the child and its future was not safe with the appellant and the child was required to be brought up in a safe and stable environment.
It is under these circumstances, the father had approached the Family Court, Bengaluru, by filing the petition under Section 25 of the Act, with a prayer to grant custody of the child to him and also to restrain the appellant from removing the child from the jurisdiction of the Family Court till the child is handed over to his custody.
The Family Court, thereafter, heard the arguments addressed on both sides and vide the impugned judgment and decree allowed the petition filed by the respondent under Section 25 of the Act and directed the appellant to hand over the custody of the minor daughter to the respondent within one month from the date of the order and also passed an order restraining the appellant from removing the minor child from the jurisdiction of the Family Court till the custody of the child is handed over to the respondent.
Being aggrieved by the said judgment and decree, the appellant approached High Court.
Mother May Assault Children Out Of Anger For Their Betterment | Custody Denied To Father
Karnataka High Court
A division bench of Justices Alok Aradhe andS Vishwajith Shetty noted that the mother, who had the custody of the minor daughter, was in an illicit relationship with another man and after leaving her matrimonial house, she was living with that person in a rented apartment. The high court remarked:
If the issue regarding the relationship of the mother with the other man juxtaposition the welfare of the child is considered, it appears that she has given more importance to the illicit relationship of hers and has neglected the child.
After she left the matrimonial home, she had handed over custody of the child to her parents at Panchkula, Chandigarh and she continued her stay in Bengaluru and the material on record would go to show that she was constantly moving with the man.
Therefore, it can safely presumed that she bothered least about the welfare and interest of the child and she had taken the child away from his father only out of vengeance.
Woman Leaves Husband’s Home With 3-Year-Old Son; Later Sells Child As She Wanted To Remarry
Elaborating on the violent behaviour of the woman as alleged by her husband, the high court said,
The mother herself did not get proper love of her parents as she was brought up by her grandparents. It appears therefore, that she has no respect or value for the relationships and she was in the habit of quarrelling on silly issues. She also did not want to stay with her in-laws, and therefore, she saw to it that they left the house.
In spite of such behaviour, the in-laws came back to the house, when she was pregnant and they not only took care of her during her pregnancy, but also took care of the child. Despite all this, she deliberately raised quarrel with them and threw them out of the house.
Further, the Court noted that the wife had been behaving in a rude manner even during the family counselling sessions ordered by the family court. She also did not obey the orders of both the family court and also the High Court to grant access to her in-laws to the child .
Keeping in mind the best interests of the child, the High Court observed,
The Court is not only required to consider the bonding and comfort of the child, but also the environment in which it is presently growing keeping in mind about the welfare and future growth of child.
In addition to financial security, it must also consider if the parent would be available for the child when it is in need of their love and affection and under whose care and protection the child would have a better future.
UAE Announces New Divorce Laws For Non-Muslims; No Fault Divorce, Shared Parenting, Alimony Calculation Dependent On Years In Marriage
The High Court also considered that the moral, ethical welfare and the physical well-being of the child must be given top priority. The bench added,
Home is the first school of the child and parents are its first teachers.
When the child is deprived of a proper parenthood, its overall growth and happiness gets affected and in such situation, the Courts are not only required to consider the comforts and attachments of the child but should also consider the surroundings in which the child is growing, the moral and ethical values which the child learns by observation, availability of care and affection when the child needs it most and thereafter strike a balance which would be more beneficial for the child’s welfare and interest.
Concluding the matter, the high court upheld the family court order, instructing the mother to hand over the child to the father.
LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS TWEET BELOW:
READ ORDER: Karnataka HC Upholds Minor Daughter's Custody To Father Since Mother Gave More Importance To Her Illicit Relationship With Another Man
— Voice For Men India (@voiceformenind) February 4, 2023
▪️Woman handed over child to her parents in Panchkula, & lived on rent with paramour in Bengaluruhttps://t.co/3DnbutzUxC
DO WATCH:
“I Am Not A Kidnapper, I Am Just A Father Pleading To See My Son” | Manoj Dhankhar
(Here’s another case, where mother took custody of the child, left him with her parents, and shifted to Ireland for work.)
Join our Facebook Group or follow us on social media by clicking on the icons below
If you find value in our work, you may choose to donate to Voice For Men Foundation via Milaap OR via UPI: voiceformenindia@hdfcbank (80G tax exemption applicable)
Follow Us
