HC: Child’s welfare trumps dad’s rights

The Bombay high court on Monday struck down a 2023 family court order directing a woman from Bidar, Karna-taka to hand over the custody of her 9-year-old son to her estranged husband.

- Karuna Nidhi

A single-judge bench of justice Shailesh P Brahme noted that under Muslim personal law, the father was entitled to custody after a child turned seven, but the court held that the boy's welfare was most important and he would not be able to thrive in an environment where his own father felt like a stranger.