'Adulterous Spouse' Is Not Equivalent To 'Incompetent Parent': Delhi High Court

The Delhi high court, in its recent ruling observed that an adulterous spouse is not equivalent to an incompetent parent. The extramarital relation of a person cannot be claimed as the sole determining factor negating them custody of a child, the Court added.

A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said that the factors for consideration in both, divorce proceedings and matters concerning custody, may be co- but they are always “mutually exclusive”.

The division bench held that even if adultery by a parent has been proved, it cannot forbid either spouse denying the custody of a children unless it is proved that such relationship has proven detrimental to the welfare of the children.

The court was hearing cross appeals filed by a man and his wife against the family court order which granted the both parties joint custody of their two minor daughters aged 12 and 10 years. The husband claimed that adulterous relationship of the wife disentitled her to the custody of the children.

The court, then stated that though there was proven evidence on wife”s extra-marital relationship, there was not “an iota of evidence” to establish that she, as a mother, failed to fulfill the needs of the children.

“The respondent/mother may not have been a faithful or a good wife to the appellant/husband, but that in itself is not sufficient to conclude that she is unfit to have the custody of the minor children, especially when no evidence has been brought on record to prove that she in any manner, neglected to take care of the children or that her conduct has resulted in bad influence of any kind, on the children,” the court stated.

(With inputs from PTI)