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Synopsis

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently refused to grant interim custody of a minor child to her biological mother on the ground that prima facie purported abandonment of the child by her was clear from the facts on record. 

Allegedly, the mother had left the child with her religious guide (Guru) when she performed second marriage with another disciple of her Guru, and later on the Guru handed over the child's custody to another couple in 2018. 

Thereafter, the biological mother moved the court seeking the minor's custody. She alleged that she had never abandoned the child and the documents placed by opposite parties before the court which showed that she had handed over the child to her Guru were false and forged. 

An affidavit had been placed before the court wherein the biological mother of the minor child had renounced all her rights over her son and had stated that her Guru will raise him as his disciple and after giving him Dharam Sanskar, he will make him a Jain Sant.

The document was shown signed by both, the biological mother of the minor child and her Guru. 

The bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur noted that the battle over the child's permanent custody was already going on before the Family Court and by a previous order, the high court had granted the interim custody of the child to the couple who had assumed the child's custody after his alleged abandonment by the biological mother.

The couple, who at present was taking care of the child, also informed the court that when there was no one to take care of the minor child and his health was frail, their Guru had entrusted the minor's custody to them. However, the Guru had told the court that at the time of such handing over, it was made clear that it was a temporary arrangement. 

The single judge bench observed that in the judgment of the Top Court in Tejaswini Gaud and others Vs. Shekhar Jagdish Prasad Tewari and others (2019), the ratio decidendi of the verdict was that if evidence prima facie suggests that a child has been abandoned or has been deprived of love and affection by his biological parents, and, the child reveals his unwillingness before court to join the company of his biological parents and rather expresses his desire to stay in the company of those persons, who on his purported abandonment have assumed custody over him, in that situation, maybe, the biological parents do not remain entitled to receive the interim custody of the minor child.

The court noted that the child had expressed his desire before the court to live with his current caretakers who he had assumed as his parents and the same was also endorsed by the Child Welfare Committee. 

Accordingly, while rejecting the woman's plea, court held that handing over the interim custody of the minor child to his current caretakers will be subject to the determination of the ultimate custody of the minor child by the court below. 

Case Title: Manisha Maheshwari v State of Haryana and Others