Efforts Begin for Shared Parenting & Joint custody





 

With increasing number of divorce cases coming up in the co urts, petitions for shared parenting is growing in India. However, in absence of legal framework and patriarchal mindset, which considers fathers as incapable of nurturing the children, the concept of joint custody of kid has failed to take off. This and many other issues that are making shared parenting a distant dream for many divorced men is what the law commission will look into to suggest amendment to Guardians and Wards Act.

The commission, on the request of a few NGOs and separated fathers, has suo-moto taken up shared parenting as a topic for study which would include suggestions for amending Guardians and Wards Act, according information obtained under Right to Information act from the Commission. Shared parenting, a common concept in Europe and developed countries, means a court-ordered relationship in which both parents have full parental rights to jointly determine major decisions affecting the welfare of the child.

At present, there are no specific rules or guidelines in Indian laws for shared parenting. “We will be studying the practice followed in various developed countries such as US, UK and others before suggesting suitable amendments in the present Guardians and Wards act 1890 or framing guidelines for joint custody of children,“ said a senior law commission official, requesting anonymity. In absence of any guidelines, family courts are avoiding shared parenting as one of the options available for divorcing couples, said the official.