Rajasthan High Court Appreciates Child's Gesture Towards Bench Mediating His Custody Conflict, Calls It 'Symbol Of Strength Of Mediation Law'

The Rajasthan High Court while hearing the custody case of a 6-year-old was gifted flowers and a hand-crafted pen stand by the child as a symbol of appreciation for the mediation sessions held with him. While acknowledging the gesture of the boy, a division bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Munnuri Laxman said:

“This Court acknowledges and appreciates the creativity and positivity of the child and also his sweet gesture and thank him for the wonderful gifts, which he has brought for us. At the end, the child also though in a soft tone, expressed his thanks to the Court. We shall preserve the precious gifts made of craft paper in our Chambers as a 'Symbol of Strength of Mediation Law'.”

The court was hearing a custody matter wherein the parents of the boy were getting divorced and thus the conditions of child custody were up for hearing.

The Court highlighted how the child was torn while having to decide between both parents, but then adopted the suggestion of spending time with either parent alternately.

The Court stated that in this case, instead of taking a strict legalistic approach, it adopted a pragmatic and realistic approach, focusing on the child's welfare and granted permission to the proposed arrangement in its earlier order.

The custody conflict again came before the Court when one of the parents filed a habeas corpus petition to change the status quo and after a prolonged session of mediation with the child, the Court reached a different arrangement wherein the parents agreed to share custody but in a different schedule. Accordingly, the habeas corpus petition was disposed of by the Court.

After that, the child expressed his gratitude to the Court by offering two flowers and a pen stand made of craft paper made by him.

The Court opined this to be a gesture of love and affection by the child who may have gained strength during long sessions of mediation with the Court. The bench observed:

“After dictation of the order in open Court, the child – Master Kiaan came at the Dias, where we were sitting and gifted us two beautiful flowers and a pen stand made of craft paper, which he has made for us, as a gesture of his love and affection, which probably gained strength, owing to the long duration of mediation and separate sessions, that have taken place between the child and the Court.”

Title: Rajesh Bishnoi v the State of Rajasthan & Ors.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 199

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