Jharkhand High Court Gives 4-Year-Old Girl’s Interim Custody To Mother, Says Child’s Welfare Comes First

Jharkhand High Court on IVF: The Jharkhand High Court has said that the welfare and best interest of a child must come before the personal rights of parents in a custody fight. The Court has now given interim custody of a four-year-old girl to her mother while the main custody case is still pending.

The case was heard by a Division Bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad. The mother had challenged a Family Court order from Hazaribagh which had refused to give her interim custody of her daughter.

The dispute involved a married couple who are both Assistant Professors at Vinobha Bhave University in Hazaribagh. They got married on 16 May 2017. Both had been married earlier.

Indian Railways Gets 656 Km Boost Across Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, MP And Chhattisgarh

Child was born through IVF

After their marriage, the couple decided to have a child and went through IVF treatment. The mother later gave birth to their daughter on 8 March 2022.

The mother told the Court that she faced physical and mental harassment at her matrimonial home. She said she was eventually forced to leave and was also stopped from meeting her daughter.

The father rejected these allegations. He said the mother had left the matrimonial home on her own and had left the child behind. The Family Court had earlier refused the mother’s request for interim custody under Section 12 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. Instead, it allowed her to meet the child through visitation rights. The Family Court had said that the girl needed the love and affection of both parents.

The mother then moved the High Court against that order.

High Court says child’s Welfare is most Important

The High Court said the Family Court had not properly considered the mother’s request for interim custody under Section 12. The Bench referred to Section 13 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956. It said that the welfare of the child has to be given the highest importance in custody matters.

The Court said “In the instant case, the minor female child is aged about four years and six months. At such tender age, she is in dire need of motherly affection and love, and is not in a position to form an intelligent preference. It is an admitted fact that the child was born through IVF and the petitioner/appellant has endured the pain and sacrifice associated therewith.”

The judges said a parent’s legal claim can’t be treated as more important than what is best for the child. The Court observed that “the determinative factor is not the legal right of the parties but the welfare and best interest of the child, which must override all other considerations.”

Mother gets Interim Custody, Father can meet child

After looking at Sections 6(a) and 13 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act along with Section 12 of the Guardians and Wards Act, the High Court decided that the girl should stay with her mother for the time being. The Court set aside the Family Court’s earlier order and directed that interim custody of the child be handed over to the mother until the main guardianship and custody case is decided.

Palamu Roads No Longer Held Hostage by Maoists, Now Drive Jharkhand’s Growth

The father will still be allowed to meet his daughter. He can have visitation on weekends from 10 AM to 5 PM. The arrangements must be made in a way that the child’s studies aren’t affected. The case is titled SV v. RR and was heard as First Appeal No. 335 of 2026.

For the mother, advocates Shreesha Sinha, B.K. Prasad, Adil Ali, Niraj Kumar and Vijay Shankar appeared before the Court. The father was represented by Abhishek Kumar Dubey and Akriti Aprajita.