Supreme Court reverses its order granting child's custody to father after 12-year-old suffers from anxiety

The top court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale said the child suffered from anxiety and the court order giving his custody to father left a "calamitous effect" on the 12-year-old.

"There is no room for doubt that in matters of custody, the best interest of the child remains at the heart of judicial adjudication and a factor adversely impacting the child's welfare undeniably becomes a matter of such nature that has a direct bearing on the decision with the possibility to change it.

"Therefore, in the wake of new facts as detailed above, the review petitions at hand are deemed worth entertaining under Article 137 of the Constitution of India and require indulgence of this Court," the court observed as quoted by Live Law.

Chronology

The child's parents got married in 2011. The child was born in 2012 and the couple got separated a year later.

The couple were divorced in 2015. The child's custody was given to his mother.

In 2016, the mother got married to a man who had two kids from his previous marriage. The newly-wed couple also had a child of their own.

The father of the child who suffered anxiety was contacted by the 12-year-old's mother in 2019 for some paperwork as she was planning to relocate to Malaysia with her husband and children.

The father, who claimed the child's religion was changed from Hindu to Christian without his knowledge, had approached a family court seeking the custody of the 12-year-old.

After the family court had rejected his plea, the father then moved the High Court challenging the lower court order.

The High Court had granted the father custody of the child.

The mother then moved the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order. The top court dismissed her appeal in August last year.

The mother approached the Supreme Court with a fresh plea claiming the custody change had an "immense negative impact on the mental health of the child".

She backed her claims with a clinical psychologist's report showing the child suffers from separation anxiety disorder.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said the custody orders can't be "rigid" and can be "moulded" in the best interest of the child.

"The core and inalienable standard is the paramount consideration of the child's welfare, which is affected by an array of factors, is ever evolving and cannot be confined in a straitjacket," the top court said as quoted by NDTV.