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Nutan Gautam v. Prakash Gautam

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 467Decided 5 Apr 2019
Civil Appeal Nos. 3409-3410 of 2019
Justice R. Banumathi · Justice R. Subhash Reddy

Background

After the husband obtained an ex-parte divorce decree, the Family Court had directed that the couple's young son be admitted to a boarding school in New Delhi, and the Allahabad High Court's interim orders required the boy to stay there except during summer vacations with his mother. The mother, who lived with the child at her parental home in Shahjanpur, appealed to the Supreme Court after the boy, then about 10 years old, refused to return to the Delhi boarding school following his vacation and was instead continuing his studies at his old school in Shahjanpur.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court personally interacted with the child, who expressed a clear preference to continue studying at his familiar school in Shahjanpur near his mother, and held that treating the welfare of the child as paramount, he could not be compelled to join the Delhi boarding school. It therefore set aside the High Court's orders directing the boy's admission to the Delhi school, held the mother had not violated any direction by keeping him in Shahjanpur, and also struck down a direction forcing the mother to elect only one forum for maintenance, as inconsistent with law. The Court granted the father visitation rights on Sundays and public holidays when he visits Shahjanpur, and requested the High Court to dispose of the pending first appeal on the divorce decree itself as expeditiously as possible.

Lesson Learnt

In child custody and schooling disputes, the welfare and genuinely expressed wishes of the child, not rigid prior court directions or a parent's preference, are the paramount and decisive consideration for the courts.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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