The long-awaited piece of counsel came during a significant judgment by justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw on cross appeals by a couple seeking custody of its only daughter.
Don’t encourage parents to be aggressive during custody battles as this harms children, the Delhi high court has warned lawyers. The advice should be an eye-opener for parents and lawyers who reduce such cases to a fight between adversaries.
The long-awaited piece of counsel came during a significant judgment by justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw on cross appeals by a couple seeking custody of its only daughter.
The father had been meeting the child periodically in the presence of a magistrate. But the mother appealed that he shouldn’t be allowed to meet the child at all. The high court quashed her plea.
The judge said lawyers must encourage parents to allow children to meet both the mother and the father. Rather than advising them to take up “accusatory and aggressive positions” and “building up cases out of figments of imagination and experience”, lawyers should apply “balm to aching hearts”.
“If they [lawyers] play a constructive role, there will be no need to call children to courts and make them see verbal duels,” the court said.
Judge Endlaw also admonished parents for using children as pawns. “The child is caught in the war between parents as they haven’t shown enough maturity to leave her out of their personal battle.”
“In order to grow, a child needs love, guidance and companionship of both parents. Parents must not instigate a child against each other and must not demean each other before the child,” the judge said.
“These are not empty words or utopian thoughts. There have been cases where children of broken homes have shared excellent relationships with both parents. Children have an inherent capacity to adapt to situations.”
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