Gujarat high court quashes ‘harsh’ order for child’s weekly court visits

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court has quashed a family court order requiring a mother to bring her two-and-a-half-year-old son to court every Thursday for six hours for meetings with the child's paternal grandfather and criticised the lower court for its "harsh and obdurate approach" in child custody dispute that is unacceptable.The petition was filed by the child's mother against a family court, Dhrol-Jodia in Jamnagar, under the provisions of the Guardian and Wards Act, which ordered visitation rights for the child's grandfather. In Sep 2025, the family court ordered the child's mother to remain present with the minor in court premises on every working Thursday from 11am to 5pm until disposal of the custody case. It also ordered that the mother and grandfather sit together during the access period, barred the mother's second husband from being present, and allowed the grandfather to give gifts, clothes and toys to the child. The dispute for the child's custody began after the death of the child's father, and the mother's second marriage. The paternal grandfather sought the child's custody. The family court passed an interim order for the child's meetings with his grandfather in court premises. Facing difficulties due to the visitation hours in court premises, the mother challenged the family court's order. After the hearing, Justice J C Doshi took note of other interim orders passed by the family court, which directed the mother to keep the child in a diamond factory during her late husband's first death anniversary. The family court also ordered that the child's birthday be celebrated in court premises. On this, the HC said, "This kind of harsh and obdurate approach of the court is unacceptable. All that could be noticed is that these kinds of orders are passed at interim stage, without reading the evidence. The point of view of the learned family court may not be biased, but at the same time, no less than parti pris."