The Bombay High Court, which dismissed a father’s petition challenging the mother’s custody order earlier in January, observed that a mother hiring a maid to look after the child is not grounds for denying her child custody. Justice RM Joshi notices that hiring maid servants is not an “uncommon practice” and does not “cause interference with the impugned order.”
The father, in his petition, mentioned that the mother is under depression and is not in a state to take care of the child. However, Justice Joshi observed that the report from expert doctors, who examined the mother (on the orders of the HC) and found her to be normal. The father further argued that the mother is not personally taking care of the child and that she has appointed a maid from the maintenance amount. However, the court did not stand with the argument.
“It is not uncommon for a maid servant to be engaged where there is a small child in the house. In such circumstances, the said fact, even if it is accepted to be true, will not become a ground to cause interference in the impugned order,” Justice Joshi observed.
In the pleadings filed by the family court, the father had earlier submitted ‘objectionable’ comments on the mother’s inability to feed her milk to the child. Taking notice of the language used by the father in his plea, the family court said that using such inappropriate language warrants a fine imposed on the father.
“The use of inappropriate and derogatory phrases/words in legal pleadings undermines the dignity of individuals, based on their gender, and falls beyond the permissible bounds of language expected in such pleadings. As such, for using such inappropriate language, some costs need to be imposed on the father.”
Justice Joshi also upheld the family court’s imposition of Rs 5000, stating that the court does not wish to increase the said amount or interfere with the order for any reason, and hence, the petition was dismissed.
