JUDGMENT

Ajaib Singh J:

I have decided to make an interim order today and defer my final decision for two weeks.

The parties in this custody case have filed lengthy affidavits and I have also received at my request a confidential report from the social welfare officer which covers the plaintiff, his two children and other members of the plaintiff's family who live with him in Ipoh. This report does not say much about the mother of the children because the social welfare officer had no opportunity to interview her as she was away in India.

I feel that I need more time and more information in this matter before I make a final decision. I am concerned about the welfare of the two children as it is the function and duty of the Court to look into the interest and welfare of infant children who are innocent victims of broken marriages. It is for this reason that I have decided to obtain more evidence and take some time to arrive at a considered judgment.

To get a complete picture of this unhappy episode it is necessary that the social welfare officer puts up a report on the mother of the children. The first report has made certain observations on the two children who were then and are still living with the father. It is only fair therefore that an opportunity should now be created to allow the children to be with their mother for some time so that the social welfare officer while preparing his report on the mother will be able to make his observations on the children again and at a period of time when they will be living with their mother.

I must add here that the observations and recommendations which the social welfare officer submits in a case like this are certainly taken into consideration by the Court but the question of the custody of infant children rests entirely with the Court and the Court alone.

I shall therefore make an interim order in this case. The mother will have custody of the children for two weeks. The Senior Assistant Registrar of the High Court will arrange for the mother and the two children to be interviewed by the social welfare officer who will submit a confidential report to the Court. And during the fortnight I shall myself talk to the two children privately in chambers to ascertain their desires as far as I can possibly do bearing in mind their tender ages.

I shall give my final decision on 16 October 1981 at 10 a.m.

Ajaib Singh J:

These custody proceedings relate to two infant girls - Panna aged 7½ years and Dhanwanti aged 8½ years - the innocent victims of a broken marriage.

The background of this case may be briefly stated. The plaintiff was born in India in 1950 and in 1959 he migrated with his father to Malaysia where he had his primary and secondary education. In 1971 he went to Bombay for further studies and after obtaining a diploma in accountancy he returned to Malaysia in 1975 and assisted his father in the laundry business for about one and a half years. After that he was employed as an accounts clerk by an industrial firm and from March 1981 he has been working as an audit clerk with another firm drawing a salary of RM350.

While studying in Bombay he got married to the defendant on 12 March 1972. Dhanwanti and Panna were born in Bombay on 1 February 1973 and 9 February 1974 respectively. When he returned to Malaysia in August 1975 the plaintiff left behind the defendant and the two children who lived with the defendant's parents in India until 21 October 1978 when she and the children joined the plaintiff in Malaysia. On 15 November 1978 the parties had their marriage registered under the Registration of Marriages Ordinance 1952. The Immigration Department gave visit passes to the defendant and the two children which were extended from time to time. The family lived together with the plaintiff's aged parents (the father 63 years of age and the mother 56) and with the plaintiff's brother who is a student, two grown-up sisters both unemployed and another grown-up sister who works as a nurse in