Space crunch no ground to deny woman custody of children: Delhi Court

NEW DELHI: Space crunch in a woman's house is no ground to deny her the custody of her children, a Delhi court has said while refusing to hand them over to the father.

Additional Sessions Judge Vrinda Kumari rejected the plea of the man against a lower court order awarding his wife the interim custody of their two children in a domestic violence case, saying their interest would be best protected by their mother.

"The two minor children are of tender age and their interests would be best protected if they were looked after by their mother (respondent­aggrieved).

"Space crunch at the house of father of the respondentaggrieved (mother) is no ground to deny the interim custody of the minor children to the mother," the judge said.

A magisterial court had on May 5, 2017 granted the woman, a south Delhi resident, the custody of the two minors.

Challenging this order, the man had contended that the trial court did not appreciate the fact that his wife intentionally and deliberately did not reconcile with him and filed the false and frivolous application.

He denied all the allegations of the complaint lodged under the Domestic Violence Act.

The man, an east Delhi resident, had also alleged that there was space crunch at his estranged wife's parental home which could be inconvenient to the children.

The court, however, rejected his contention and noted that the appeal nowhere raised vital questions about the children's education.

"It is silent on some of the very vital issues such as the minor son not being sent to school for almost two months.

The petition is also silent on the observation of the trial court that the name of the minor son was struck off from the school because of his absence for almost two months," it said.

Upholding the magisterial court order, the judge noted that Metropolitan Magistrate personally met the children to assess the situation and reached the conclusion that the custody of the minor children should go to the woman.

The woman, in her complaint, had alleged that the man tried to kill her using a knife as well as by strangulating her and had demanded cash and jewellery as several occasions.