The Hon’ble High Court while pronouncing judgment stated a woman accused of killing her husband cannot be given the custody of her minor daughter considering the wellbeing of the child unless she is acquitted in the case.
The petition, filed by the woman/mother of the minor residing in Mumbai had alleged that on 11th May, 2018, deceased went to his native place at Jhansi while petitioner stayed back in Mumbai along with her daughter. On 13th May, 2018, Petitioner got a phone call from her husband’s (deceased) maternal uncle alleging some unidentified person had murdered her husband. However, when she reached Jhansi with her daughter, she was falsely involved in her husband’s murder case and was arrested while her daughter was taken away by her husband’s maternal uncle. Since then the child was in his custody.
The Hon’ble bench, while dismissing the petition, remarked that if the mother is not guilty in the murder case by the concerned court, she would have the right to move the court for her daughter’s custody, which would then be decided in accordance with the law. The Hon’ble Court has accordingly refused to hand over custody of the two-year-old daughter to the petitioner woman accused in her husband’s murder case.
“This issue of the matter apart, the possibility that the mother might truly be a collaborator in her husband’s murder, builds a character which would not be beneficial for the minor in grooming her about her moral values – a very important aspect of a child’s wellbeing. On the other hand, if the mother is innocent and is acquitted, the loss, the minor would suffer on account of lack of her mother’s care and guardianship, cannot be re-compensated, however, it is a reverse that must be accepted for the minor’s wellbeing, in preference to a contingent better, fraught with risk,” further observed by the Hon’ble bench.
The Court has refused to grant relief in view of the interest of the minor child.
Case: Gyanmati Kushwaha and another vs. State Of U.P. And 4 Others
Habeas Corpus Writ Petition No.: 1217 of 2019
Counsel: Azad Khan, Mohini Jaiswal, G.A.,Ali Hasan, Fakhruzzaman, Om Prakash, Fakhra Uz Jama
Coram: Bench of Justice J. J. Munir