From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its ruling on the woes of a 6-year child of Gujarat orphaned by Covid-19 in the second wave and his paternal and maternal grandparants fighting for his custody.
The paternal grandfather challenged the Gujarat High Court’s order granting the child’s custody to his maternal aunt
Woes of a 6-year child orphaned by Covid after he lost his both the parents, one after the other, in the second wave of pandemic continues with his both – paternal and maternal grandparents – fighting over his custody as Supreme Court on Monday reserved orders on a plea by paternal grandfather challenging Gujarat High Court’s order granting the custody of the child to his maternal aunt (sister of the child’s deceased mother).
Father of the unfortunate child passed away on May 13, 2021 and a month later his mother too succumbed to Covid on June 12, 2021.
Fixing the ruling on June 9, a bench comprising Justice M.R.Shah and Justice Aniruddha Bose also stayed the May 2, 2022, order of the Gujarat High court directing that the custody of the minor child be handed over to his maternal aunt.
The court gave lawyer Rauf Rahim appearing for maternal grandparents, who were in caveat, time till June 7 to file his response to the petition by paternal grandfather Swaminathan Kunchu Acharya who has challenged the .
The High Court had handed over the custody of the child to maternal aunt, aged 46 years, who is unmarried and had taken care of child’s both the parents when they were hospitalised and also of the child after their passing away. Keeping in view the best interest of the child, the High Court noted that the efforts for an amicable solution of the issue between paternal and maternal grandparents have not succeeded.
Heading the top court bench, Justice Shah was not impressed when Rauf Rahim told the court that paternal grandfather was 71-year-old and grandmother was 63-year-old, thereby suggesting that they were too old to take care of a minor child. Justice Shah felt that it was not such an age where they can’t take care of the child.
He also said it was an inter-caste marriage which did not have blessings of the husband’s parents.
Justice Shah also felt that Ahmedabad was a metropolitan city with all the facilities while Dahod where the child’s maternal grandparents lived was a tribal area.
Lawyer D.N.Ray who appeared for the petitioner grandfather Swaminathan Kunchu Acharya took the court through the High Court order. Ray said that though the High Court had ordered that the custody of the child be given to the maternal aunt, but the child was still living with paternal grandparents.
