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Divorced parents should take shared custody of children : Law Commission

by IBNS 23 May 2015, 08:31 am

New Delhi, May 23 (IBNS) In keeping with the demand of the time, the Law Commission has recommended that divorced parents be given joint custody of minor children.

The move is a departure from the traditional custody system that favours the father.

“Neither the father nor the mother of a minor can, as of a right, claim to be appointed by the court as the guardian unless such an appointment is for the welfare of the minor,” the commission, which advises the government on legal issues, the Law Commissionsaid in a report to the law ministry, reports said.

It proposed two draft bills to amend the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 that prefer the father as the natural guardian. The commission said that despite a Supreme Court judgment, the mother is preferred as the natural guardian while the father is still alive only under exceptional circumstances.

“This is required to be changed to fulfil the principles of equality enshrined in article 14 of the Constitution,” the panel said.

The recommendations are significant as the idea of shared parenting is  new to custody jurisprudence in India. The panel said the amendments are necessary to bring the law in keeping  with modern social consideration