Whether child welfare committee under Juvenile justice Act can hand over custody of child to mother when the matter is pending before the Family Court?

 5. In a case of identical nature, a Division Bench

of this Court in Shaiju S and others v. Child Welfare

Committee and others [2021 (6) KHC 573] has held as

under:

“11. We must at the outset note that the Committee

committed grave error in ordering custody to the mother

when the matter is pending before the Family Court. The

Committee ought to have restrained from entertaining a

dispute which is a subject matter of lis between the

parties. We must also note that wrangling between the

spouses in regard to custody will not confer any power on

the Committee to interfere in such matters and give

custody to one of them. Going by various provisions,

including Section 2(14)(v) of the Act, the Committee's role

would arise only when none of the parents is in a position

to take care or protect the child or children. The

Committee can step into at a stage to protect a child when

parents are not in a position to protect the child. The role

of the Committee commences from the stage where both

parents are not in a position to take care and protect the

child. The parens patriae principle to intervene is to

protect the child and act as a parent of the child when

parents fail to take care and protect the child. So also is

the matter of dispute between spouses. The Committee

would be justified in interfering with the custody of child

with one of the parent, if that parent is incapacitated or

failed completely to take care of the child.

12. The Committee cannot voluntarily interfere with

the custody of the children except on a circumstance

where it forms an opinion that the child requires care and

protection. Merely because the children are isolated from

the mother by the father, Committee cannot interfere with

the legal custody of the children by the father”.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

WP(C) NO. 35830 OF 2024

SHITHU KS Vs  CHAIRPERSON, CHILD WELFARE COMMITTEE,

PRESENT

 MR.JUSTICE C.S.DIAS

Dated this the 12th day of December, 2024

Citation: 2024:KER:94086.

Read full Judgment here: Click here. 

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