New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the welfare of children was "paramount" in the legal battles over their custody between estranged parents.
“In cases of child custody, the paramount consideration should be the welfare of the child. The utmost sincerity, love and affection showered by either of the parents, by itself, cannot be a ground to decide the custody of a child,” said a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta.
The observations came in a judgement in which the top court set aside a Kerala High Court order of December 11, 2014.
The high court granted the interim custody of two minor children for 15 days every month to the father, but the apex court called arrangement "unfeasible" and "detrimental" to the children's well-being.
The verdict came on an appeal by the mother, a software professional, who challenged the high court’s interim custody order in favour of the estranged husband, a general manager at a construction company in Singapore.
The couple married in 2014 and has two children — a daughter born in 2016 and a son born in 2022.
They have been living separately since 2017 following marital discord though a brief reconciliation in 2021 led to the birth of their second child.
The father approached a family court in Thiruvananthapuram in June 2024 seeking permanent custody of the children under the Guardians and Wards Act.
The family court granted the father limited visitation rights — including monthly in-person visits and weekly video calls.
The high court modified the custody arrangement, allowing the father 15 days of physical custody each month, provided he fulfilled certain conditions like renting a flat in Thiruvananthapuram, hiring a nanny, and arranging transportation for the children.
The high court also granted video call access to the parents when the child was in the other's custody.
Setting aside the order, Justice Mehta, writing the judgement for the bench, said, “The interim arrangement is neither feasible nor conducive to the well-being, mental and physical, of the children."
The arrangement, the court said, failed to consider the developmental needs of the children, particularly the need for stability, nutrition, and emotional security.
“However, at the same time, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the respondent is a doting father who has shown his keen desire to have an equal and effective parenting role in the upbringing of his children. Thus, depriving him of the custody of the children in entirety is neither acceptable nor justifiable and may destroy all chances of family bonding,” it said.
The bench said the father will have custody of the daughter on alternate Saturdays and Sundays each month and on these days, he may also meet the son for up to four hours under supervision of a child counsellor.
Permitted the father to make video calls to children on every Tuesday and Thursday for 15 minutes, the bench directed the family court to expedite the ongoing custody battle under the guardianship laws.
