Supreme Court warns of long-term harm to child’s well-being in bitter custody fight; mediation ordered.
New Delhi, July 24, 2025
In an astonishing development in a child custody case, the Supreme Court of India scolded a mother after her 12-year-old daughter demanded ₹1 crore from her father to agree to live with him. The court expressed grave concern about the child’s violent conduct, which included allegedly hitting her father with a stick, and blamed the mother for putting these thoughts into the child’s head.
BR Gavai, the Chief Justice, who led the bench, issued a stern warning to the mother, telling her, “You are ruining her mind and ruining her career. This is a bad thing. It will come back and haunt you one day.” The case comes from a long-running matrimonial dispute, in which a district court awarded custody to the father, and the mother refused to follow this process and appealed in the high court.
Senior Advocate P.R. Patwalia, representing the father, made shocking allegations concerning the daughter’s demand and alleged that the mother had taken the father’s name out of the child’s school enrollment documents. Patwalia stressed that notwithstanding the serious nature of these allegations, the Court should not penalize the mother, and that the parties should be referred for mediation.
In conclusion, the Supreme Court ordered former Uttarakhand Chief Justice Ritu Bahri to act as mediator, observing that the child was suffering emotional harm. The court noted that bitter battles for custody are not allowed to make children pawns in the parents’ war.
This ruling highlights the courts attempt to protect minors from lasting psychological damage in family conflict, which the courts yielded to restraint, sensitivity, and timely resolution of custody matters.
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