The Supreme Court on Thursday termed the separation of six-month-old twins from their mother by an estranged husband over a marital dispute as a case of ‘supreme cruelty’. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjari pulled up the husband for separating the one-and-a-half-year-old children from their mother.
The Supreme Court ordered the estranged husband and wife to appear before the judges along with their children on the next date of hearing. The bench remarked, ‘The husband has committed grave cruelty by separating the children of just six months from their mother. The welfare of children comes first. This is a grave insult to justice.
Six month old children cannot be separated from their mother: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court said that children younger than six months cannot be separated from their mother. This is extreme cruelty. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition by the estranged husband seeking transfer of the matrimonial cases initiated by the wife in Lucknow to Punjab.
The husband’s counsel said the court should not change the status quo with respect to the twins, as it would be harmful to them. The bench told the lawyer that no midwife or grandmother can take care of six-month-old children the way a mother can.
Husband said- she herself left the children
The husband’s lawyer claimed that she herself had left the marital home and had no interest in keeping the children with her. The bench told the lawyer that if she was not interested in keeping the custody of her twin children (boy and girl), she would not have fought the case till the Supreme Court.
Justice Mehta remarked, “She was actually thrown out of her in-laws house without her children. Her children were separated from her and she was beaten and subjected to extreme cruelty.” The woman’s lawyer told that the husband was an alcoholic and was not ready to show the children even on video call.
Supreme Court gave a big order
The husband’s lawyer said that the woman has filed several cases in Lucknow and he is demanding to transfer them. The bench noted that the woman was a teacher and the husband was a businessman and asked him how much maintenance he was paying to his estranged wife and how much he was willing to pay. The bench ordered that on the next date i.e. 26th February, you should be present in the court room along with both the children.
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