Drama In Bombay High Court As 10-Yr-Old Resists Father’s Attempts To Take Custody, Grandfather Asked To Hand Over Custody At Police Station

A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and PD Naik denied to look at video footage of the child screaming for help and then physically fighting off the father while the latter attempted to forcibly take him away from the High Court premises. The court was seized with a contempt petition filed by the father against the maternal grandfather and uncle to handover the child's custody.

Following submissions from all parties involved, the court said, “The fact therefore remains that the Order passed by this Court dated 1st February 2022 and upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court by its Order dated 16th September 2022 has not been complied with…”

While the court noted that several attempts to handover custody in the past had failed, the physical and mental toll of the transition on the child was a pitiable plight to watch in the afternoon, onlookers said.

Later in the evening the child’s physical custody was given to the father amongst heavy police protection at the Kasturba Marg police station in the distant western Mumbai suburb of Borivali.

The Case

After a prolonged illness with tuberculosis in 2016 and then breast cancer the following year, the child’s mother passed away in 2019. She was a professor with some of the oldest colleges in South Mumbai for several years. During her illness she was living with her parents and brother and that’s how even the child began living with them.

Soon after the mother’s demise the grandparents as well as the father approached the Family court for the child’s custody. The family court ruled in the grandparents’ favour. However, on February 1, 2022, the Bombay High Court set aside the family court’s judgement and ordered that the child’s custody be with the father.

The High Court observed that the animosity over the child’s custody between the warring parties may have contributed to the father being alienated from the child. Unfortunately for the child, even the maternal grandmother passed away in 2021. The Supreme Court on September 16, 2022 granted the child’s custody to the father by considering the demise of the grandmother.

Subsequently, the father approached the Bombay High Court in a contempt petition. On December 13, 2022 the bench, to avoid “any complications and creation of scene or ruckus”, directed the senior Police Inspector to take the child’s custody from the grandparents’ building compound.

But the attempt was futile as the child refused to go with the officer, who then apprised the High Court about the same. Finally on Monday, the maternal family agreed to hand over the child’s custody to the father but the child refused again.

On Tuesday the court suggested the handover happen in court “to avoid any bickering or scene being created by either of the parties.” However, the court was informed that the child tried to assault the father and ran away from his custody.

The family’s lawyer denied allegations of assault.

“Respondent Nos.1 & 2 (Grandfather and Uncle) are directed to take the child in the precincts of Kasturba Marg Police Station, Mumbai at about 7.00 pm today. We also direct the Senior Inspector of Police, Kasturba Marg Police Station, Mumbai to depute two Police Officers out of which one be lady Police Officer to monitor the handing over of the custody of Master ‘J’ in favour of Petitioner by Respondent Nos.1 & 2 and to assist in avoiding breach of peace or any scene created by either of the parties, if necessary,” the court said in the order.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Bom) 128