The Delhi High Court has refused to hand over the custody of a two-year-old child to his father and upheld an order granting the infant’s charge to the mother.
The high court said the family court’s order is well-reasoned and balanced and gave cogent reasons for handing over the custody of the toddler to the mother.
“At the same time, in the interest of the child, the father has been allowed overnight custody of the child, twice a month. Accordingly, considering the tender age of the child, the impugned order cannot be faulted,” a bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna said.
The bench dismissed an appeal filed by the man challenging the family court’s April 2023 order which had granted the child’s custody to the mother.
The man argued that the woman had abandoned the child and left the matrimonial home when their son was barely three months old and the minor was being looked after by the father.
He said sought the family court’s order to be set aside and the child’s custody returned to him.
During the arguments the high court was informed that the man had married the woman (his second wife) in 2020, while his divorce from the first wife took place only in 2023. At the time of his marriage with the woman, his first marriage was subsisting.
While the man and the woman got married in June 2020, a son was born to them in March 2021.
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The woman claimed in January 2022, she was beaten by the man and his family members. In March last year, the man and his family members visited her parental house and forcibly snatched the child from her, she alleged.
Thereafter, the woman approached the family court seeking custody of her son.
The high court noted the family court has considered the tender age of the child and all other surrounding facts and has directed the man to hand over the minor’s custody to the mother.
The father has been granted overnight custody of the child on the first and third Saturday of every month.
