Second marriage no ground to deny child’s custody - Delhi HC

 A man’s second marriage cannot be a ground for denying him custody of his child, a Delhi court has said while granting guardianship of a 10-year-old boy to his father who remarried after his wife’s death.

The boy had been living with his maternal grandparents since his mother’s death. Guardian judge Gautam Manan rejected the grandparents’ contention that it would not be in the child’s interest to live with his stepmother. “The second marriage of the petitioner cannot be held to be a disability,” the court said, noting that the man’s elder daughter has been living with him and was being brought up well by her stepmother.

“There is no evidence that the stepmother of the child has maltreated the sister of the minor… (who) is getting a good education,” the judge said, allaying the grandparents’ fears.

The court said the man, a resident of Begumpur in south Delhi, “being the natural father of the minor, is more likely to impart moral and ethical values in the child”. It added if the child lives in his elder sister’s company, it would provide comfort to him and her company would also be “fruitful” in his growth as “sisterly love can provide the minor the warmth of a good relationship”. The man, earning Rs 12,000 per month, had approached the court seeking permanent custody of his son who had been living with his maternal grandparents since he was seven months old. Agreeing with his arguments, the court said the grandparents themselves were old and had to support their five unmarried children, none of whom had come forward to take responsibility for bringing up the boy.

The court also said the aged couple had failed to demonstrate how they were ensuring the boy got a good education. It said the child’s maternal grandfather was 73 years old and there was a huge age difference between the aged couple and the child, due to which they could face difficulty in taking care of him.

Court gives custody of 10-year-old boy to dad, who remarried after death of wife Maternal grandparents said child would not be treated well by stepmother Court says no evidence of maltreatment of boy’s sister, who lives with her father.