Family Law – Right of Natural Guardian – Mother, as the only natural guardian after the father's death, has the right to decide the surname of her child and give the child in adoption – High Court's direction to restore the child's original surname was overturned – Mother's decision to change the surname to that of her new husband is valid and aligns with th...
Maintenance Allowance – Non-payment – Breach of Protection Order – Interpretation and application of Section 31 of the Domestic Violence Act – Whether non-payment of maintenance allowance amounts to economic abuse and breach of a protection order under the DV Act – Principles of purposive interpretation and mischief rule applied – Objective of the DV Act to prov...
Civil Procedure – Transfer Petition – Matrimonial Matters – Appellant sought transfer of F.C.O.P. No. 125 of 2020 from Family Court Vellore to Family Court Chennai due to her inability to travel and her dependency on aged parents – Supreme Court emphasized the principle of convenience of the wife and ordered the transfer to avoid multiplicity and conflict of decisions &ndas...
Constitutional Law – Habeas Corpus – Custody of Minor Children – Petitioner-mother filed writ seeking custody of minor children taken to India by respondent-father against US court orders – High Court issued notice and deferred hearing multiple times to explore amicable settlement – Supreme Court reiterated paramount importance of child's welfare and upheld inhere...
Misuse of Maintenance Tribunal – Petitioner Sanjivani alleges misuse of Maintenance Tribunal by husband and his parents to evict her from the matrimonial home, infringing her rights under the Domestic Violence Act - [Para 1]
Matrimonial Discord – Ongoing matrimonial disputes, with complaints lodged by both parties, including a complaint under the Domestic Violence Act filed by Sanji...
Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 – Modification of maintenance amount by Appellate Tribunal – Original order requiring each brother to pay Rs.700/- per month – Appellate order enhanced petitioner's payment to Rs.3000/- per month, leaving other brother's payment unchanged – Petitioner's challenge to the discriminatory enhancement. ...
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) – Section 19 read with Section 21 – Override of restrictions imposed under Section 198(1) read with Section 198(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C) – Declaration by the court – Court declares that Section 19 read with Section 21 of the POCSO Act shall override the restrictions imposed by Secti...
Marriage and Misappropriation of Assets – Maya Gopinathan (Appellant) appeals against High Court’s partial reversal of Family Court’s judgment which had favored her claims of misappropriation of jewelry and a monetary gift by Anoop S.B. (First Respondent) and his late brother (Second Respondent) – Family Court had originally awarded compensation for 89 sovereigns of gold an...
Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage – Dissolution of Marriage Granted – The Supreme Court granted a decree of divorce based on the irretrievable breakdown of marriage between Prakashchandra Joshi (appellant) and Kuntal Prakashchandra Joshi @ Kuntal Visanji Shah (respondent). The parties had been living separately since February 2011, with no contact for almost 13 years, and the respond...
Custody of Child – Welfare of Minor – The paternal grandparents sought custody of their minor grandson, whose parents passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic – High Court had handed over custody to the maternal aunt – Supreme Court reversed this decision, emphasizing the emotional and loving care provided by paternal grandparents – Grandparents' ability to provid...