A child cannot be deprived of the love and affection of either parent, the Orissa high court has said, setting aside a Cuttack family court’s order denying visitation rights to a man seeking to meet his two-year-old son. The court said that even if the custody lies with one parent, the other must have sufficient access.
The court said on Tuesday that a father “who has been consistently approaching courts to see his son cannot be presumed to be a threat to him or his mother,” affirming the right of both parents to remain involved in their child’s life.
The family court rejected the visitation plea, saying that allowing it could pose a threat to the mother and child. The father filed a writ petition against the order.
The high court criticised the family court’s reasoning as perverse and contrary to settled law. It noted that the alleged incidents the mother cited occurred nearly two years ago. The high court said that no fresh material was presented to show any ongoing threat. “A…father, desperate to see his child and pursuing legal remedies rather than resorting to unlawful means, cannot be assumed to pose harm to his son or wife,” the high court said.
It cited the Supreme Court’s judgment in the 2020 Yashita Sahu vs State of Rajasthan case. The high court said it underlined that a child’s welfare must remain the paramount consideration in custody disputes. It directed supervised visitation twice a month at the High Court Mediation Centre in Cuttack.
The court permitted the father and grandparents to meet the child for two hours on scheduled dates and to speak to him via video call every alternate weekend. “In a custody battle, there can’t be a straitjacket formula to be followed. In the Indian society, the grandparents form an integral part in the upbringing of children, and that part of affection and contribution cannot be ignored or shelved, and it is the welfare of the children that this court is concerned with,” it said.
The court, which called the grandparents an ancillary part and parcel of the family, ordered the payment of ₹2,000 for each visitation to cover travel expenses.
The couple was married in April 2021, and the son was born in December 2023.
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