Somprabha Rana & Ors. Vs State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
Supreme Court held that while deciding custody of minor children, the only paramount consideration is the welfare of the minor. The parties’ rights cannot be allowed to override the child’s welfare.
Facts- This appeal arises from a very unfortunate dispute about the custody of a female child whose present age is two years and seven months. The mother of the child unfortunately died an unnatural death on 27th December 2022. It is alleged that the death of the mother was by hanging. The 4th respondent is the father of the child. The 2nd and 3rd respondents are the paternal grandparents of the child. The 5th respondent is the sister-in-law of the 4th respondent (his brother’s wife). The 1st to 3rd appellants are the real sisters of the deceased mother. The 4th and 5th appellants are the child’s maternal grandparents, who were not the parties before the High Court. The 5th respondent is also a real sister of the child’s mother. The 5th respondent is the wife of the 4th respondent’s brother.
The 2nd to 4th respondents invoked the jurisdiction of the Madhya Pradesh High Court by filing a petition seeking a writ of Habeas Corpus under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. A case made out in the petition was that the 4th respondent and the mother of the child were residing in Indore, where the unnatural death of the mother occurred. A First Information Report was registered against the 2nd and 4th respondents for offences punishable u/s. 304-B and 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. The petition under Article 226 filed by the 2nd to 5th respondents proceeded on the allegation that the 2nd and 3rd appellants illegally took over custody of the child. It must be noted here that on the date of death of the mother, the age of the child was 11 months. By the impugned judgment dated 23rd June 2023, the Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore allowed the writ petition.
