Brief Facts
In a recent case of Lakshmi Roy v. Deepa, between a mother who is a lawyer and a grandparent seeking custody of a child, it was decided that the petitioner cannot simply claim custody by claiming the parent in question being a “lady lawyer” won’t be able to take care of the child.
Arguments Advanced
The petitioners challenged the order given by a Civil Judge rejecting their application for impeding the proceedings initiated by their daughter-in-law for the custody of her child. The proceedings were instituted under the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956.
The Court noted that the application was made by the petitioners in an attempt to defer proceedings and only when the mother entered/filed a habeas corpus for the child, as for the petition in the High Court for the custody of her child.
The mother’s side argued that the aspect of love and consideration should also be noted.
It was also argued that money or bodily comfort alone, which probably appears to be a consideration on the part of the petitioners overlooking the fact of the love and affection and the genuine affinity of the parents to a child could not be overlooked and should decide Such welfare.
Court’s Observation
The court pointed out that had the petitioners been concerned, as is stated, in the welfare of the minor child, they should have, at the very beginning, moved an application for being impleaded as a party to the list at the introductory stage. It is only after the proceedings have been expedited by this Court vide order dated 30.05.2019 that the present application for impleading the petitioners as the party been filed on 10.10.2019. This leaves no manner of disbelief that the application preferred by the petitioners for impleading them as a party is not a bona fide exercise on their part.
Court’s Decision
Branding lady lawyers as a class as discriminatory and provocative and, therefore, the welfare of the child which includes moral and ethical values, is least hoped to be secured by such grandparents, who have a narrow outlook towards life and society. Women lawyers are not only successful in their professional endeavors but have proved to be bold, brave, and successful mothers.
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