New Delhi: The second marriage of a person
cannot be a factor to deny him custody of his child, a local
court has said while ruling in favour of a man whose was son
was living with his maternal grandparents since his mother's
death.
Guardian judge Gautam Manan gave the 10-year-old boy's
custody to his father, rejecting the child's maternal
grandparents contention that the man had got married for the
second time after their daughter's death and it would not be
in the welfare of child if he is left with his stepmother.
"Second marriage of the petitioner (man) cannot be held
to be disability," the court said, rejecting the contention.
It also noted that the man's elder daughter lived with
him and was brought up rather well by her stepmother.
"There is no evidence that the stepmother of the child
has maltreated the sister of the minor who is living with the
petitioner and stepmother, rather it is in evidence the sister
of minor is getting good education in a good school," the
judge said.
Divesting the child's grandparents of his custody and
handing him over to his father, a Begumpur village resident,
the court added the natural guardian is likely to impart
better "moral and ethical values" to the child.
"The petitioner (man) has brought up the sister of the
minor well and being natural father of the minor, he is more
likely to impart the moral and ethical values in the child,"
the court said.
The court said if the child would live in his elder
sister's company, it would provide comfort to him and her
company would also be "fruitful" in his growth as "sisterly
love can provide the minor the warmth of a good relationship".
The man, earning Rs 12,000 per month, had approached the
court seeking permanent custody of his son who had been living
with his maternal grandparents since he was seven months old.
Stripping the child's maternal grandparents of his
custody, the court said they themselves are old and have to
support their five unmarried children and none of them have
come forward to take up the responsibility to bring him up.
It also said the aged couple has failed to show that they
were giving good education to him.
The court said child's maternal grandfather was
73-year-old and there was a huge age difference between them
due to which they may face difficulty in taking care of him.
It, however, granted them visitation rights to meet the
child twice a month.
The man had told the court that he got married in May
1998 and had a daughter and son in October 1999 and July 2001
respectively. Due to some disease, his wife died in December
2002 and since then his son had been living with his maternal
grandparents.
The woman's parents alleged that the man used to harass
their daughter and a case of domestic violence was also lodged
against him. The court noted that he was acquitted in the
case.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, November 06, 2011, 13:51