Marriage may unravel, but parenthood is not a contract one can walk away from — that was the Kerala High Court’s firm reminder to a divorced couple tangled in a dispute over their daughter’s care.
A Bench comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and MB Snehalatha, while hearing a contempt plea filed by a father against his former spouse, made it unambiguous: being divorced does not dissolve the duty to parent. The courtroom didn’t mince words. “They may be divorced as husband and wife,” the Bench said, “but they can never be divorced as parents.”
The father, in his plea, alleged that the mother was preventing their daughter from interacting with him, despite earlier court orders. His request wasn’t punitive — he sought no action against his ex-wife — only to be present in his daughter’s life, particularly for her schooling and therapy sessions.
In response, the mother’s legal team insisted she hadn’t obstructed anything — the child simply didn’t want to go. The Court stepped in for a direct interaction with all three: father, mother, and daughter.
The daughter’s resistance was palpable. Clinging to her mother not only as a parent but as her primary caregiver, the girl made her discomfort clear. The judges noted the emotional weight she carried — especially the fear that legal friction could end in repercussions for her mother.
But the Court brought the focus back to the child’s needs — particularly as a child with special needs. “The rights of the child are what concern us, not the rights of the parents,” the Bench underscored. “She has the right to have both her parents in her life.”
While the contempt case was dropped, the ruling was not a free pass. The father was granted full liberty to attend therapy sessions and track his daughter’s educational progress — but with a condition: he must never cause her distress. Parenting, the Court stressed, must come with empathy, not entitlement.
The mother’s counsel assured the Court she would cooperate moving forward.
As the dust settled in the courtroom, one message stood clear — the titles of husband and wife may fade, but the role of parent is carved in permanence.
