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Purvi Mukesh Gada v. Mukesh Popatlal Gada & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2017 INSC 846Decided 4 Sept 2017
Criminal Appeal No. 1553 of 2017
Justice A.K. Sikri · Justice Ashok Bhushan

Background

The appellant-wife and respondent-husband, married in 1997, had two children, a son born in 2000 and a daughter born in 2004. The wife left the matrimonial home in February 2013 after what she alleged was years of mental and physical torture, and a bitter custody battle over the two children followed through the trial court and the High Court, with the Supreme Court granting interim weekend access to the father in the meantime.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and affirmed that custody of the children should remain with the appellant-mother, upholding the trial court's July 2015 order on that point. It continued the weekend access arrangement already in place for the father under the Court's interim directions, and additionally granted him custody for half of each major vacation period (Dussehra, Diwali, Christmas, summer), subject to the children's studies not being disrupted, with liberty to approach the trial court if difficulties arose in implementing these arrangements. The Court also directed that the children's passports and domicile certificates, held by the respondent, be handed over to the appellant.

Lesson Learnt

In custody disputes, courts try to balance the child's primary residence (often with one parent) against the other parent's meaningful access, including extended time during holidays, and procedural logistics like travel documents are addressed explicitly so that the custodial arrangement can actually be carried out.

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

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