Supreme Court: Custody issues cannot be resolved mechanically

The Supreme Court has stressed that habeas corpus issues involving minors cannot be dealt with mechanically by comparing children to “movable property”. The court must consider the impact of custody disputes on the child, the court said on Friday.

Habeas corpus petitions are generally filed to bring missing or illegally detained persons to justice. In this case, Justices AS Oka and AG Masih underlined the need for humanitarian considerations.

The court delivered its verdict in a case involving a two-year-old girl whose mother had died in December 2022 and had left the girl in the care of maternal aunts. The court stayed an earlier Supreme Court judgment that had ordered the child to be handed over to her father.

The Supreme Court found that the court did not adequately consider the child's best interests and focused primarily on the father's rights as the natural guardian. The Supreme Court emphasized that the minor's best interests are paramount and stated that although the father is not yet entitled to sole custody, he should be allowed to visit the child for supervised visits.

(With contributions from agencies.)