The welfare of the child is the paramount consideration in custody disputes, and it should be determined by considering various factors and balancing the totality of the circumstances.

GuttaI j.

Welfare of the child is the paramount consideration. This appealing phrase, easy to understand but less easy to apply, is invoked by the parents of the mother of the child, Anisha. The Additional District Judge, Kozhikode, in the O.P.No.136 of 1989 filed by Anisha's father, Velayudhan, ordered that Anisha be given in his custody. The parents of the deceased mother of the child, impugn the order.

2. In this appeal the appellants are referred to as 'maternal grandparents' and the respondent as the 'father'. The child's mother died by drowning in a well on the evening of 6th September, 1988 when the father was away. According to the father, she committed suicide as she was depressed by the fact that her husband, a sergeant in the Indian Army, was summoned to Sri Lanka to continue his duties in the I.P.K.F. The grand-parents, on the other hand, urge that the father, by practice of cruelty drove her to commit suicide. The conduct of the father in relation to his wife, is not under investigation in this case. Therefore" we are not called upon to inquire into the circumstances in which the child's mother died, unless, of course, such circumstances are shown to be relevant for considering what is in the best interest of the child, which has not been done.

3. The facts relevant to the question of the welfare of the child which emerge from the evidence are as under:

i) The father, a sergeant in the Indian Army, has, after the death of his wife taken a transfer to Kozhikode with a view to looking after the child.

ii) The father has a modest and regular monthly income, as sergeant, in the Indian Army.

iii) Since he has taken a transfer to Kozhikode his desire to bring up the child and educate her under his supervision is established.

iv) The child is attached to the matrimonial grand parents, due to its association with them during the preceding one year and 8 months.

v) The maternal grand father is a coconut plucker by occupation. In comparison with the economy of the father, his economic condition does not endow him with the ability to spend for the welfare of Anisha.

vi) The maternal grandfather is 76 years old and the grandmother is over 65 years of old.

vii) The parents of the father of the child are in their 50's and not as old as the maternal grandparents.

viii) While the child lived with the maternal grandparents after the mother's death, the father did send a money order for meeting the expenses of the child; but the maternal grandparents refused to accept the money order.

ix) While the child's father lives with his parents the maternal grand parents are living with their sons, one of whom is mentally retarded and the other is divorced, from his wife.

4. Anisha has to live with the father or her maternal grandparent?. Which of them are able to provide conditions of life conducive her welfare? This question has to be answered by considering the facts set out in paragraph 3 above. The paramountcy of the welfare of the child is axiomatic. It is the most dominant consideration in the consciousness of the court. Yet the courts have found no subject more difficult to deal with than the meaning and application of the phrase. The attitude of the courts, where parents battle over children, has not been uniform; though a tendency to lean in favour of the mother is discernible where the contest is between the parents. In this case the contest is not between the parents but between a parent - the father - on the one hand, and the maternal grand-parents on the other. Therefore we have to reckon not only the paternal love but also the claim of the maternal grand-parents.

5. The father and mother being the most natural claimants to custody of the child a straight contest between them has the virtue of directness. But the claim for custody by maternal grandparents introduces consideration of wide range of factors relevant to the child's welfare. Consistently with this claim and the increasing consciousness of the community towards the we