Mother natural guardian; HC orders grandparents to hand over custody of minor

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: A 13-year-old girl who was under the guardianship of her grandparents and uncles has been handed over to her natural mother by the High Court of Karnataka.

“It is the law of the universe that for a child nothing is parallel to the mothers love and concern. In the custody of respondent Nos.1 to 4, (grandparents and uncles) child has lost the company of her sibling, emotional and moral support of the petitioner and sibling which is essential for sound development of a child,” the division bench of Justice KS Mudagal and Justice KV Aravind said in a judgement recently.

The mother, 32, working in a call centre in Davangere had filed an appeal in the High Court after a family court had rejected her request for granting guardianship of her second daughter.

The woman was married to one Basavaraja who had died in 2017. After the death of her husband by suicide in 2017, the woman lived separately from his family along with her first daughter.

The second daughter continued to live with the grandparents. In 2020, the woman sought custody of her second daughter.

She claimed that she was earning well and was capable of taking care of both her daughters. She claimed that her in-laws were illiterate and the second daughter had a better prospect for education in her custody.

The in-laws had alleged that the woman was responsible for the suicide of her son. While the family court rejected her contentions, the HC however ruled in the favour of the mother.

“Respondent Nos.1 and 2, the grandparents of the minor girl being aged 68 and 63 years respectively are in the evening of their lives. The minor girl is aged 13 years. The age of respondent Nos.3 and 4 who are uncles of respondent No.5 are 35 years.

"Considering the age of grandparents and welfare of the minor girl, it is appropriate to hand over the custody of the minor girl to her mother-natural guardian,” the HC said.

The HC also said that since the grandparents had made serious allegations against the woman they could instigate ill-will against the mother in the mind of the child.

Further the grandparents and uncles remained unrepresented in the court despite notices and the members of the Legal Services Authority approaching them in their residence.

“This conduct and attitude would further show that they have no regards for Courts and legal process. Therefore the welfare of the minor girl is likely to suffer in the hands of such persons,” the HC said.

The HC directed that the minor girl be presented before the Trial Court “along with her clothes, school records and medical records etc.”

The Court would then “handover the custody of the same to the petitioner (mother).”