The Indian Express ·
Only being father does not entitle child’s custody: Punjab and Haryana High Court
The father approached the high court through habeas corpus petition, alleging that his daughter was being kept in illegal custody by her mother.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a man’s plea seeking custody of his minor daughter and held that only because he is the child’s father, or because the parents had entered into a compromise, does not entitle someone to the child’s custody. The court declined to disturb the existing custody but granted the father fortnightly visitation rights.
Justice Manish Batra was hearing the man’s habeas corpus plea when, considering the child’s “tender age”, he was allowed access to the daughter.
“The mere fact that the petitioner is the father of the child or that a compromise dated January 1, 2023, was entered into between the parties per se does not warrant handing over custody of the child to the petitioner in the present proceedings, particularly when the matrimonial dispute and the question of custody have remained contested,” the court said.