Anantnag, Aug 3: In a landmark judgment District and Sessions Judge Anantnag, Tahir Khurshid Raina, has delivered a strong message to parents embroiled in child custody disputes, emphasizing love, patience, and reconciliation over prolonged litigation.
Details available with news agency Kashmir News Corner — KNC, that the case involved a deeply contentious custody battle under the Guardian and Wards Act between estranged parents. Judge Raina observed that the child had been reduced to a “bone of contention,” turned into a “chattel or a ball” in the parents’ ongoing conflict, which he attributed to “false egos, intolerance, and illiteracy.”
Recounting his interactions with the child, the judge described him as “highly agitated by the behavior of the father,” who sought to dictate terms about his school admission and subdued the child to his will. The child reportedly displayed “absolute hatred and condemnation” for his father, even rebuking his mother for asking him to meet the petitioner.
The court noted that the father, by aggressively pursuing legal remedies, had further alienated his son. Judge Raina observed that the father’s attempts reflected “an arrogant approach, bent upon snatching the child from the custody of the mother,” instead of adopting a compassionate path.
“Unfortunately, the words of the court seem to have fallen on his deaf ears,” the judge remarked, adding that the continued litigation had only deepened the trust deficit between the father and the child, surpassing even that between the estranged spouses.
The court also highlighted that an earlier agreement between the parties regarding custody and visitation had failed due to the child’s outright refusal to meet his father. “Even the visitation rights of the father are subject to the will of the child. Once the child has shown his complete refusal to meet his father, this court cannot compel him by passing a judicial order,” Judge Raina ruled.
Declining the father’s petitions, the court held that compelling the child to meet the father would amount to “torturing the child,” which militates against the welfare principle of the Act. The judge emphasized that despite being a child of a broken family, the boy was happy and comfortable in his mother’s company, and the court could not deprive him of this solace.
In an epilogue to the judgment, Judge Raina delivered a heartfelt message, “Don’t try winning the child by litigation; win him by your patience and unconditional love. Give love a chance over litigation. Let your child grow in the lap and love of the mother with your sincere, unannoying, and undisturbing care as a father.”
Encouraging the mother to remain “a bridge of love rather than a wall of hatred,” the judge expressed hope that the child would one day bring the parents together and grow to his fullest potential even fulfilling his dream of becoming a judge. (KNC)
