The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled in favour of a 25-year-old woman seeking custody of her five-year-old daughter, directing that the child be handed over from her paternal grandparents to her mother. The court held that, under the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, a mother becomes the natural guardian after the father’s death and that the child’s welfare would be best served in her care.
Justice S G Chapalgaonkar, delivering the judgment on Tuesday, underscored that while the law prioritises the father as the primary natural guardian, the mother assumes that role in his absence unless proven otherwise. The judge stressed that a child’s welfare is the paramount consideration in custody matters and stated:
“When it comes to a girl child aged about five years, the Courts cannot be oblivious of the fact that it is the mother who can be the best person to have custody. The care and support by the natural mother to a child is unparalleled and cannot be replaced by anyone else.”
The mother had approached the High Court after a district court rejected her plea for custody in April 2025. She had previously agreed, during a mutual divorce settlement, to let her daughter—then only a year old—remain in the custody of her husband and his parents. However, after the husband’s death in January this year, the paternal grandparents sought to be appointed as the legal guardians.
Opposing the grandparents’ application, the mother argued that they were elderly and might not be in a position to provide the necessary care for a growing child. She also submitted that her financial situation had improved significantly since the divorce, enabling her to now support and nurture her daughter effectively.
The High Court noted that the earlier decision allowing the child to remain with the father was based on the mother’s limited means and dependence on her own parents at the time. That, the judge said, could not be interpreted as abandonment.
“Merely because grandparents or other relatives had nurtured the child for some period, the natural guardian cannot be denied the right of custody… unless it is shown that the welfare of the minor would be jeopardised,” the court observed.
In its final order, the court directed that the child be placed in the custody of her mother while also ensuring continued familial contact by granting visitation rights to the grandparents once or twice a week.
