JUDGMENT

A.K. Sikri, J.

It is an unfortunate case where the parties, who are wife and husband, are having a bitter and acrimonious fight over the custody of their children. Such custody battles are always regrettable, not only for the spouses who resort to this kind of litigation, which is the offshoot of matrimonial discord and results in their separation from each other, but also for their child/children who become the subject matter of this kind of dispute. Failure of marriage generally leads to disputes of varied nature, either in the form of divorce or enforcement of conjugal rights or maintenance etc. and even criminal cases in the form of proceedings under Section 498A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and so on. However, in those cases where their togetherness as spouses had resulted in procreation of children, the war is extended by laying respective claims on the custody of those children as well. These minor children, for their proper upbringing, need the company of both the parents - mother as well as the father, for financial reasons, security reasons, psychological reasons, etc. They need the love of both their parents. Not only separation of their parents from ea