Orissa High Court Grants Visitation Rights To Grandparents Of Two-Year-Old; Says Their Affection Is “Integral For Upbringing”

The Orissa High Court has recently granted visitation rights to the father and the grandparents of a two-year-old toddler, who was allegedly taken away from their custody by his mother when he was merely three-week-old.A Single Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra stressed on the importance of an affectionate bond between grand-child and grand-parents for overall development of the child. It also observed –“In the Indian society, the grandparents form an integral part for upbringing of children and that part of affection and contribution cannot be ignored or shelved and it is the welfare of the children which this Court is concerned. The grandparents, being ancillary part and parcel of the family, would hold the way for welfare of the child. Therefore, meeting of the grandparents with the children would also be a necessary part for upbringing, before their mind is polluted by unilateral act of any of the single parents.”Briefly put, the petitioner-husband and the opposite party-wife got married in 2021. A male child was born out of their relationship in December, 2023. In the January 2024, the petitioner as well as his father allegedly assaulted the opposite party for which she left the matrimonial home along with her three-week-old child and has been living separately ever since.Subsequent to her exit from the in-laws' house, she lodged an FIR against them for commission of offences under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 354 (outraging modesty), 498A (cruelty) of the IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. The petitioner, apart from lodging a counter FIR, filed a divorce petition on the ground of cruelty. The wife filed an application under Sections 12 and 23 of the Domestic Violence Act seeking interim maintenance. The petitioner further alleged that despite being the natural guardian of the child, he was unjustly denied access to his off-spring which compelled him to file an application under Section 151 of CPC before the Family Judge, Cuttack seeking visitation right. However, the said application was dismissed, leading to the filing of this writ petition.The Court found that the Family Court rejected the application of the petitioner mainly on the ground that allowing him to meet the child frequently has potential to expose the opposite party as well as the child to harm. Justice Mishra was of the considered opinion that such observation of the Family Court is based on no material on record, rather merely on the basis of conjectures and surmises.“Further, a natural father of a child, who is desperate to see and meet his son and is fighting out a legal battle to ensure his visitation rights by knocking the door of the appropriate Court, instead of taking recourse to any illegal and improper means, can not cause any harm to his own son so also wife, as has been incorrectly apprehended by the learned Court below,” he remarked.Reliance was placed on the landmark ruling of the Supreme Court in Yashita Sahu v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. (2020) which held that a child has a human right to have the love and affection of both the parents and courts must ensure that the child is not totally deprived of the love, affection and company of one of her/his parents. Reference was also made to a recent judgment of the High Court Sanjay Sharma v. Dolly @ Sakhi Sharma & Anr., 2025 LiveLaw (Ori) 137 which reiterated the above observation.“Law is well settled that, in matters involving custody or visitation of a child, the welfare of the child is of the paramount consideration. A child of tender age is entitled to the love, care and companionship of both the parents. While custody may rest with one parent, the other parent must ordinarily be given sufficient access, unless exceptional circumstances justify otherwise,” the Court ruled.So far as the visitation rights of the paternal grand-parents were concerned, the Court notably observed that an affectionate relationship with grandparents is recognized as beneficial for the child which will also help the child's normal development. It accordingly held –“Therefore, this Court is of the view that, in addition to the visitation right of the petitioner-father as held in Yashita Sahu (supra), the grandparents cannot be denied reasonable access/visitation rights, which will also help the child's normal development, as an affectionate relationship with grandparents is well recognised as beneficial for the child. That apart, this Court is also of the view that the grandparents, who have hopes on the grand son to come and inherit them one day, are also required to be given visitation rights to the child.”As a result, the impugned order of the Family Court was set aside and the petitioner as well as his parents were granted visitation right to meet the estranged child. The Court also laid down a detailed modality not only for exercising the visitation right but also for ensuring a structured and meaningful contact between the child and his father as well as grand-parents...

Orissa High Court Grants Visitation Rights To Grandparents Of Two-Year-Old; Says Their Affection Is “Integral For Upbringing”

Jyoti Prakash Dutta

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