NEW DELHI: Delhi HC Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya on Sunday said domestic laws in India are often insufficient to deal with cross-border matrimonial disputes, particularly those involving child custody, and emphasised that justice in such matters cannot always be delivered by strictly adhering to statutory provisions.
Justice Upadhyaya made the remarks while delivering the keynote address on the second day of India International Disputes Week 2026 in Chandigarh. He underlined that the search for justice does not always end within the four corners of law and that courts often have to adopt a broader and more sensitive approach in resolving complex family disputes.
Commenting on cross-border matrimonial disputes, especially cases involving the custody of children, the Chief Justice pointed out that India is still not a signatory to certain international treaties that could help resolve such conflicts.
“Despite a recommendation made by the Law Commission of India, we are yet not signatories of certain international treaties. There is a growing urge and demand from all parties for India to be signatory of the international conventions,” he said. Justice Upadhyaya added that in the absence of such a system, domestic courts face considerable difficulty in dealing with cases involving parents residing in different countries.
“In case of a parent seeking custody of a child, where will he bring the lawsuit? Where will he initiate the legal action, and whether or not any legal verdict given by a court here in India or abroad will be respected by the other countries. These are some of the difficult problems which we are facing now,” he said. He noted that constitutional courts in India, including the Supreme Court and the High Courts, have evolved certain case laws to deal with such issues in the absence of international treaties.
Justice Upadhyaya further stressed that lawyers representing the parties as well as judges must adopt a sensitive approach in matrimonial and child custody disputes.
“It’s more of a social problem than a legal one,” he said, adding that both lawyers and judges sometimes have to think “out of the box” to ensure justice is done in such sensitive cases.