MUMBAI: A sessions court has rejected a 41-year-old woman's plea for access to her two children during their summer vacations, observing that the children, aged 9 and 17, who did not wish to meet their mother were old enough to understand the situation and take the right decision.
The woman and her husband are estranged and the kids live with their father and grandparents.
After the magistrate's court on July 8, 2021, rejected her plea for their custody during last year's vacations, she moved the sessions court on August 13, 2021, and the plea has been decided 11 months later. She alleged before the court that WhatsApp messages between her and the children showed that they had been tutored by her husband.
Calling the magistrate's order legal and proper, the sessions court said, "It is true that sometimes children may be tutored by the parent with whom they reside. However, at the time of deciding interim custody, the proper recourse is to interact with the children and ascertain their wish. The magistrate, therefore, adopted the right recourse to interact with the children. The observation of the magistrate clearly shows that the children have understanding and are able to take right decisions." The children had told the magistrate that they did not want to live with their mother.
The sessions court further said the kids had resumed school and their academic year had commenced. "The custody of the children was asked for the restricted period-the summer vacation. Admittedly, the period is over and, therefore, the purpose of appeal has been frustrated," it said.
The woman is a homemaker and her 44-year-old husband is a chartered accountant. In 2019, she filed a complaint under Domestic Violence Act. Last year, she moved the magistrate's court seeking temporary custody of both the children. She sought the custody of her younger son for two months during the summer vacation of 2021 and the custody of her older son after the younger one left.
However, the magistrate rejected her petition, leading her to take her case to the sessions court. She told the court that being a mother, she had natural love and affection towards her children, but because of court proceedings and her husband, she had been deprived of their company.
The lawyer for the husband, however, argued that her petition was infructous as the dates mentioned in it had lapsed. It was also submitted that the woman had made several applications for the custody of the kids. However, the children themselves decided that they did not want to spend time with their mother.
