Supreme Court: Setting aside the Delhi High Court order where a father was directed to hand over the custody of his 5-year-old son to his mother, the bench of Dipak Misra, CJ and Amitava Roy, J held that unless, the continuance of the child in the country to which it has been removed, is unquestionably harmful, when judged on the touchstone of overall perspectives, perceptions and practicabilities, it ought not to be dislodged and extricated from the environment and setting to which it had got adjusted for its well-being.
Considering the facts of the case where the child was barely 2½ years old when he came over to India and had stayed with his father since then, the Court said that since he has stayed in US in his infant years, the duration is too little for the required integration of his with the social, physical, psychological, cultural and academic environment of US to get totally upturned by his transition to this country, so much so that unless he is immediately repatriated, his inherent potentials and faculties would suffer an immeasurable set back.
Hence, the verdict that was penned by Roy, J said:
“a child of tender years, with malleable and impressionable mind and delicate and vulnerable physique would suffer serious set-back if subjected to frequent and unnecessary translocation in its formative years.”
The Court also took note of the fact that no material was brought on record, persuasive and convincing enough, to take a view that immediate restoration of the custody of the child to the mother in the native country is obligatorily called for in its interest and welfare.
The Court noticed that the child is growing in a congenial environment in the loving company of his grand-parents and other relatives and has been admitted to a reputed school and contrary to the nuclear family environment in US, he is exposed to a natural process of grooming in the association of his elders, friends, peers and playmates, which is irrefutably indispensable for comprehensive and conducive development of his mental and physical faculties.
The Court, hence, directed that the child, till he attains majority, ought to continue in the custody, charge and care of his father. [Prateek Gupta v. Shilpi Gupta, 2017 SCC OnLine SC 1421, decided on 06.12.2017]
