Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court pulled no punches in criticizing how couples are seeking a child’s custody to use them as “a weapon and as a leverage” to get a favourable outcome in matrimonial disputes.While deciding a habeas corpus petition involving child custody, the bench of Justices N S Sanjay Gowda and D M Vyas said, “In far too many cases, including the present one, attempts are made by one of the parents to somehow secure the custody of the child and thereby exclude the spouse from exercising any custodial rights, which results in unseemly litigation.”
The court further said, “The custody over the child is basically sought to be used as a weapon and as a leverage to achieve a favourable outcome in a marital dispute. This recourse adopted by warring parents leads to unnecessary trauma to a minor child, who at times is not even able to discern what the litigation is all about and whether the fight is for her own good.”This case involved a couple from Palanpur, who got married in 2020 and separated in May 2024. The wife left with their then three-year-old daughter and moved into her parental home.Things took a contentious turn when the wife filed a petition in the HC, claiming that a separation deed executed in July 2025 transferred custody of the daughter to the husband. She alleged that she had been forced to sign the deed under duress and that it was executed fraudulently, falsely presenting the handover as voluntary. After a detailed hearing, the HC raised doubt about the authenticity of the separation deed by pointing out the fact that the couple even agreed to a divorce decree from a court after the separation deed was executed.The HC ordered the husband to hand over the daughter’s custody to his wife, and permitted him to resort to the legal remedy available with the family court under the Guardian and Wards Act to claim the custody of the child.
