New Delhi: The Law Commission on Friday recommended a change in legislation to allow joint custody of minors to both parents in case of divorce, saying Indian custody laws must adapt with the times and be in tune with modern social norms. The commission recommended wherever possible, the courts should now grant joint custody of minor children, effectively pitching for removal of the superiority of one parent over another.
“Neither the father nor mother can, as of right, claim to be appointed as a guardian unless such an appointment is for the welfare of the minor,” the commission said in a report submitted to the Union law ministry on Friday. The recommendations assume significance as in India the idea of shared parenting is still relatively new to custody jurisprudence.
The panel, recommending changes in the Hindu Minority and Guardian-ship Act and Guardians and Wards Act, said even after the SC ruling in the Gita Hariharan vs Reserve Bank case, the mother can become a natural guardian during the lifetime of the father only in exceptional circumstances. “This must be changed to fulfil the principles of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution,” it added.
