Arathy Ramachandran vs Bijay Raj Menon

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2025 Supreme(SC) 734

VIKRAM NATH, SANJAY KAROL, SANDEEP MEHTA
Arathy Ramachandran – Appellant
Versus
Bijay Raj Menon – Respondent

Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s): Ms. Haripriya Padmanabhan, Sr. Adv. Mr. Santosh Krishnan, AOR Ms. Sonam Anand, Adv.
For the Respondent(s): Dr. Rajesh Kumar Pandey, Sr. Adv. Ms. Aswathi M.k., AOR

JUDGMENT :

Mehta, J.

1. Heard.

2. Leave granted.

3. The appellant¹[Hereinafter, being referred to as ‘appellant-mother’] and the respondent²[Hereinafter, being referred to as ‘respondent-father’], who are both highly qualified professionals, tied the knot in the year 2014. From their wedlock, two children were born-the first being the daughter, on 23.07.2016, and the second being the son, on 05.07.2022. The custody of the children is the subject matter of the present lis.

4. We are informed that at present, the appellant- mother is employed in an IT company which allows her to work from home. The respondent-father is reportedly, working as a General Manager in a construction company at Singapore. It seems that the spouses faced marital discord in the year 2017 and accordingly, both started living separately with occasional attempts at restoring the matrimonial ties. In one of these attempts at reconciliation in the year 2021, the appellant again conceived and gave birth to the son, who is presently about three years of age.

5. The appellant-mother felt a threat perception that the respondent-father may try to forcibly remove the children from her custody. Thus, in June, 2024, she filed a