With a view to resolving the dispute over the custody of a four-year-old girl child, the Supreme Court has asked the parents to stay together here with their two daughters for three days.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman passed this order after two advocates, Madhavi Divan and V. Mohana, mediated between the parents who were asked to come to the court on July 21.
On July 18, the Bench expressed concern at the order passed by the Madras High Court entrusting custody of the child with the mother, G. Renukadevi, for four days and with the father, K.S.M. Karthikeya, for three days.
Their elder daughter is eleven years old and studying in a boarding school. The CJI told counsel for the parties, who had appealed against the order, that a child was not a shuttlecock to be tossed between the father and the mother. “This order is something which shocks the conscience of this court. We are sorry that the High Court has treated the child as a chattel, which is impermissible and unacceptable. There is no justification for the High Court to pass such an order.”.
