Aggrieved Fathers?

A lot number of cases are coming forward wherein the mothers under the pretext of going to their parental house along with their children, then decide not to come back to their parental home and file the criminal as well as civil cases at their native place and the aggrieved fathers are denied the custody of their child for no reason whatsoever.

Since the aggrieved fathers or his family members then had to face the false and baseless litigations at the place of the parental house of the wife, but situation becomes worse when they were even denied the visitation or custody of the child. But now the courts have started to think from husbands and his family member’s point of view in granting the relief. Recently Hon'ble Delhi High Court qua Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Pratibha Rani had come to the rescue of such a father who had not met his daughter for three years.

The court said: "A father, who is ready and willing to pay maintenance for his daughter, is also entitled to see his daughter at least on festivals, her birthday or at regular intervals."

Advocate Prashant Mendiratta said, "You cannot equate visitation rights with maintenance. Why should the earning capacity be linked with visiting the child? Having said this, it is the duty of every father to maintain his child. However, the current judgment would go as a precedent for those fathers who are maintaining their child and yet being kept away from them."

The author can also be reached at Advocate.kapilc@gmail.com