Grandparents of 6-yr-old baby orphaned by Covid wins his custody battle in opposition to maternal aunt

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KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Gujarat High Court had noted that the child was more comfortable with grandparents.
• Gujarat HC still gave custody to maternal aunt on the ground that she was unmarried and employed.
• SC said, “in our society paternal grandparents would always take better care of their grandchildren.”

New Delhi: Supreme Court while delivering its verdict on Thursday in an unusual child custody case said paternal grandparents would better take care of a six-year-old than his maternal aunt, as they are “more emotionally attached” to the child.Covid had claimed the life of both the parents of the child last year.

The bench said, “in our society paternal grandparents would always take better care of their grandchildren.”

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The apex court was deciding on the guardianship of a six-year-old Covid-orphaned boy who is at the center of a custody battle between his paternal grandparents and maternal aunt since the death of his parents last year.

The boy’s father died on May 13 and his mother on June 12 when the second wave was peaking in 2021.

The maternal relatives took the child to Dahod from his paternal grandparents’ house in Ahmedabad to attend the last rites of his mother and since then, he was not brought back.

Anxious about his whereabouts, health and education, the grandparents moved Gujarat high court seeking custody.

The HC judges interacted with the child and recorded in the judgment: “We noticed that he is comfortable with the petitioner and his wife (grandparents), however, he was not in a position to give an independent preference between the petitioner and the maternal aunt .”

Despite this, the HC gave the boy’s custody to the 46-year-old aunt on the ground that she was unmarried, employed with the central government and residing in a joint family which would be conducive to the bringing up of the child.

The Grandparents had moved SC challenging the High Court decision.

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