Granting the girl's custody to her father not in her interest, the court said (File)
The Delhi High Court refused to grant custody of a 15-year-old girl to her father, who is serving a life sentence in a murder case, saying the girl is in her formative years and needs the care and protection of her mother more than any other person.
The High Court said it cannot be overlooked that the man had no access to his daughter since the time she was a year old and is practically a stranger to her.
The High Court's order came while dismissing a man's appeal challenging a family court's decision denying him the custody of his teen daughter, who has been living with his estranged wife.
It is not in dispute that the child has been in the custody of her mother since she was a year old. The appellant is facing a sentence of life imprisonment for murder and destruction of evidence, the court said.
"He may be on bail presently but looking at his antecedents and his conviction in a criminal case of the most heinous nature making his future uncertain, it cannot be considered in the interest and welfare of the child to grant her custody to the appellant (man)," a bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna said.
"The child is now 15 and she is in her formative years wherein she needs the care and protection of the mother more than any other person. Furthermore, the appellant cannot claim the custody by asserting that his mother would take care of the child," the bench said.
It said the family court rightly declined permanent custody of the girl to the man, but considering that he is the natural father, he has been granted limited visitation rights for an hour every month in the interest of the girl's well-being.
The man and the woman got married in February 2006 and the girl was born to them in March 2007.
He was arrested by the police in a criminal case in May 2008 and has been in judicial custody till January 2015.
The man claimed his wife left her in-laws' house in 2008 when he was jailed and later filed for divorce.
On being released on bail in 2015, the man filed the petition seeking custody of the girl whom he could not meet since he was sent to jail.
The woman claimed the child would not be safe in the custody of the man who repeatedly extended threats to her and their daughter. She said the man has been convicted in the criminal case and sentenced to life imprisonment, and looking at his antecedents, it is not safe to hand over her daughter's custody to him.
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