Tamil Nadu: The Chennai High Court, in an appeal case, has advised that the wishes and interests of children should be given priority.
A couple seeking a divorce due to irreconcilable differences had their case pending in the Chennai Family Court. Meanwhile, a dispute arose regarding the custody of their twin sons. A case was filed in the Chennai High Court regarding this matter.
The single judge of the High Court who heard the case ordered that the children would stay with their mother from Monday to Friday and with their father on Saturdays and Sundays. The children’s father filed an appeal against this order in the High Court.
The appeal case came before a bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and Mohammed Shaffiq. The judges separately called the two children and questioned them. Both stated that they wanted to live with their mother and that their father and grandmother physically and verbally abused them.
Following this, the judges hearing the case issued an order stating that if the children were ordered to stay with their father for two more days, the abuse they were experiencing would negatively impact their mental health. The children also expressed their desire to live with their mother. The order issued by the single judge in this case was therefore set aside. They ordered that the children be allowed to go with their mother.
Furthermore, children should not be treated as mere objects in disputes between parents. Decisions regarding which parent the children will live with should be based on the feelings and thoughts of the children. Decisions should be made based on universal concepts related to children.
Children are the backbone of this great nation. Therefore, the judges ordered that the wishes and values of the children should be given priority.
