The Calcutta High Court in its order dated January 07, 2025 orally warned a woman – fighting an acrimonious divorce battle – to stop using her minor child as a pawn, else the Court would be compelled to hand over the custody to the father, keeping in mind child’s well-being.
Case:
On December 10, 2024, the court had instructed the custodial mother to make the child visit the father’s home. However, when the woman visited her estranged husband’s place on December 26, 2024, she did not take the child with her. On being questioned about the absence of child by the special officer, the woman made excuses that she had doubts on the interpretation of December 10 order.
Subsequently, the child was brought to the vicinity of the residence of the appellant-father. From there, the respondent-mother requested the learned Special Officer to come and take the child.
Submissions by Special Officer
The learned Special Officer informed the Court that at the time of handing over the child, the child was not exactly willing to go to the father. Adding further, the officer said that the respondent-mother had a huge role to play in such conduct by the child. Moreover, the respondent-mother had created a scene at the locale by involving neighbours and seeking to implicate the learned Special Officer, giving an impression to the neighbourhood people that it was the learned Special Officer, by dint of the order of the court, who was trying to take away the child from the mother and hand her over to the appellant-father.
The same scene was also repeated on December 27, 2024 by the respondent mother.
Submissions by Respondent Mother
The estranged wife and custodial mother kept stating that she was unable to interpret the order granting visitation rights to father, and now she was willing to follow so.
Submissions by Appellant Father
Learned counsel for the appellant-father on his part submitted that similar contempt was shown by the mother on previous occasions. He pointed out to another order dated September 6, 2024 passed by a co-ordinate Bench where similar orders were passed, changing the venue of visitation from the residence of the mother to that of the father.
However, on the said occasions too, the mother was consistently present during the visitation hours and had, by signs and surreptitious gestures, instigated the child not to go to her father.
Calcutta High Court
A bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Subhendu Samanta took note of the behaviour of the custodial mother and said:
It is evident from the conduct of the respondent-mother that she has been consistently attempting to defy the orders of the Court in respect of visitation, be it the order of the Trial Court or the orders of this Court dated September 6, 2024 as well as December 10, 2024.
Thus, we are of the prima facie opinion that if the whims of the respondent-mother are permitted to be given a premium by the Court by not taking any stringent action against the mother, the same conduct would be repeated over and over again and the respondent would continue to frustrate the orders of the Court.
Emphasising on the welfare of the child, the High Court remarked:
Even on a more fundamental consideration, the welfare of a child of tender years can only be sub-served if she has a balanced interaction with both parents and not a lop-sided and exclusive exposure only to one of the parents, who is in litigation with the other parent.
Hence, since the paramount consideration in custody matters is the welfare of the child, we find no reason as to why the custody of the child should not be given to the father at least for a limited period to ensure that the respondent-mother does not come in the way of such interaction between the father and the daughter.
The High Court further stated that the respondent-mother cannot be permitted to use the innocent child as a handle to force the appellant-father to resume conjugal life with her, despite the pendency of a separate divorce suit against her at the instance of the appellant.
Next date for hearing is fixed on January 13, 2025.
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— Voice For Men India (@voiceformenind) January 10, 2025
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