BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court passed an order to hand over custody of a minor boy to his parents from his paternal grandmother and paternal aunts. The court said the paternal grandmother and aunts can have visitation rights on every first and third weekend, as per the time fixed by it.
A division bench of Justice KS Mudagal and Justice CM Poonacha passed the order while allowing the appeal filed by the parents residing in the city, under Sec 25 of the Guardians and Wards Act, seeking custody of their son from his paternal grandmother and aunts, who are respondents to the appeal.
The parents contended their son was born in 2009, and they and the respondents were living on different floors in the same building in the city. The respondent aunts were unmarried and were living with their mother, and were said to be depressed due to this. Hence, the boy’s parents permitted their minor son to stay with the aunts.
Another son was born in 2010, and he remained with the parents. Over time, the sisters allegedly started poisoning the mind of the boy. As a result, he started behaving unusually with his parents.
The matter reached the family court, which ordered handover of the boy’s custody to his parents for three months —March to May — in a year, and the remaining period with the sisters. The parents moved the HC.
The HC set aside the family court order dated April 21, 2023, and said the result of the unfortunate situation is that the minor child has grown up without having a free and natural upbringing with his parents, and also complete absence of bonding with his younger sibling.
This is not in the interest and well-being of the child. The preference of the child, although being one of the aspects that has been taken into consideration, cannot be the sole factor to determine his custody, the court said.