New Delhi: In a significant judicial reversal, the Supreme Court has overturned its earlier verdict in a child custody dispute, transferring custody from the father to the mother after reviewing psychological assessments highlighting the child’s mental distress.
The fresh decision came in response to a review petition filed by a woman from Thiruvananthapuram, challenging the top court’s previous endorsement of the Kerala High Court’s order granting custody of her 12-year-old son to his father. The case was originally ruled in the mother’s favor by the family court, but that decision was later overturned by the High Court, and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court.
The turning point in the review came after senior advocate Liz Mathew, representing the mother, submitted four psychological reports prepared by experts at Christian Medical College, Vellore. The reports indicated that the prior custody arrangement had severely impacted the child’s mental health. Symptoms included anxiety, emotional imbalance, and severe distress at the prospect of being separated from the mother.
Acting on this new evidence, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and P.B. Varale noted the exceptional circumstances and emphasized that the primary consideration in custody battles must always be the child’s best interests and emotional well-being. The court’s willingness to entertain and rule on a review petition in open court a rarity in itself underscores the gravity of the issue at hand.
The revised order now awards custody to the mother, under specific conditions that were not detailed in the public judgment. Advocates Vishnu Sharma A.S. and senior advocate Kiran Suri represented the mother and father, respectively.
The case sets a precedent by highlighting the Supreme Court's openness to revisiting its own decisions when new evidence affecting a child’s welfare comes to light, reaffirming that legal custodial rights must always take a back seat to the mental and emotional well-being of the child.