Court refrains from interference in family court's jurisdiction concerning custody and visitation rights.

J U D G M E N T

The writ petition is filed with the following prayers:-

“a) Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction under Articles 226 and 117 of the Constitution of India directing immediate production of the minor child, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (DOB: 09-01-2020) before this Hon'ble Court or before such authority as this Hon'ble Court may designate, in order to assess the present welfare and safety of the child.

b) Grant interim custody of the minor child to the petitioner for a limited period of fourteen (14) days, in order to restore continuity of parental bonding which has been obstructed for more than 140 days, subject to such supervisory, reporting or protective conditions as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit;

c)In the alternative, pending consideration of interim custody, direct that the minor child be placed in a neutral and supervised arrangement under the Child Welfare Committee/District Child Protection Unit, with structured and enforceable access to the petitioner;

d) Direct a time-bound independent psychological and developmental assessment of the minor child, along with a Social Investigation Report through the District Child Protection Unit/Child Welfare Committee, to be submitted before this Hon'ble Court within a fixed period.

e)Issue appropriate supervisory directions ensuring:

 enforcement of the subsisting access order dated 01-09-2025.

 preservation of all evidence in FIR No.1450/2025 and FIR NO.0167/2026  that no person named as accused in the said FIRs shall have unsupervised access to the minor child pending investigation,  and that the minor child shall not be removed from the territorial jurisdiction of this Hon'ble Court without prior leave.

f) Exercise supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 to correct the failure to invoke interlocutory protective jurisdiction under Section 12 of the Guardians and Wards Act,1890, in the peculiar circumstances of criminal escalation and prolonged obstruction.”

2. The brief facts of the case are as follows:-

The petitioner is the biological father of the minor child, born on 09.01.2020. The petitioner was actively involved in the daily care and upbringing of the minor child, from birth until August,2023. The first respondent and the minor child were permanent residents of the UAE under the lawful sponsorship of the petitioner. Thereafter, the first respondent removed the minor child from UAE to India without the consent of the petitioner. Thus, the petitioner's access to the child was progressively restricted and was limited only to video calls. By January 2024, even such limited video access was completely discontinued by the first respondent, resulting in a total denial of communication, evidenced by Ext.P3. Thus, the petitioner filed O.P.No. 3000157/2025 before the Family Court, Kunnamkulam on 22.02.2025 under Sections 7 and 25 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 seeking custody and protective reliefs. I.A. No. 2/2025 was filed seeking interim access and visitation rights, and the same was allowed by the Family Court on 09.06.2025, the order is produced as Ext.P4. Thereafter, I.A.No.10/2025 was filed before the Family Court seeking weekend overnight custody and expanded access. Thereafter, a CLAP lawyer was appointed by the Family Court and a report was filed noting the attachment of the child to the father and identifying behavioral elements requiring attention. By Ext.P6 order dated 01.09.2025 in I.A.No.10/2025, the family court granted structured weekend overnight custody along with video call access to the petitioner. During the period of access consequent to the order in I.A.No.10/2025, the petitioner observed behavioural changes in the chi