16 July,2025 10:35 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Temporary care by relatives doesn`t override the mother`s right to natural custody says HC. File pic.
The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has granted custody of a five-year-old girl, who was living with her paternal grandparents, to her mother. The court noted that, after the father's demise, the natural guardian of a minor child is the mother, reported news agency PTI.
A bench led by Justice SG Chapalgaonkar stated on Tuesday that according to the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, the natural guardian of a minor child is first the father, and then the mother.
Therefore, legally speaking, the minor girl should be given into the custody of the mother unless it is established that she has an adverse interest or is incapable of securing the child's welfare, the High Court said.
The order was passed following a plea filed by a 25-year-old woman against an April order from a district court which had rejected her application for custody of her five-year-old child.
The woman stated in her plea that when she was mutually divorced, she had agreed for her daughter, who was then one year old, to remain in the custody of her husband and his parents.
However, the father died in January this year, after which the paternal grandparents filed an application seeking to be appointed as the child's guardians, PTI reported.
Following the grandparents' plea, the woman opposed it and sought the child's custody, arguing that the grandparents are getting old and would not be able to takecare the child adequately. She further claimed that as she is now earning well, she would be in a better position to look after her daughter.
"When it comes to a girl child aged about five years, the Courts cannot be oblivious of the fact that it is the mother who can be the best person to have custody. The care and support by the natural mother to a child is unparalleled and cannot be replaced by anyone else," the High Court said.
Moreover, the High Court further stated that merely because grandparents or other relatives had nurtured the child for some period, the natural guardian cannot be denied the right of custody of the child, unless it is shown that the welfare of the minor would be jeopardised.
According to PTI, the court said that the fact the woman left the custody of her child with her husband at the time of divorce does not mean she had abandoned the child.
It further added that, at the time of the divorce, the woman was herself dependent on her parents and had no source of income, and therefore, it was deemed appropriate for the child to remain with her father.
The court ordered the child to be handed over to the custody of the mother but stipulated that the grandparents would be permitted to visit the child once or twice a week.
(With inputs from PTI)
