Bengaluru: The high court has set aside a family court order that required a father to pay Rs 5,000 every time he met his four-and-a-half-year-old son.Justice P Sree Sudha, while disposing of the father’s petition on July 24, ruled that the payment was unjustified, especially after the child’s mother had requested a change in the visitation venue.The father, who lives in Kammanahalli’s Thomas Town, and the mother, a resident of Horamavu, stay just 1.7km apart. In May 2023, the family court had allowed the father to meet his son every Sunday at a nearby Coffee Day outlet. However, in Dec 2024, the arrangement was modified at the mother’s request, shifting visits to the family court’s visitation room on the first and third Saturdays of every month under her supervision.The revised order also granted the father a two-hour visit on the child’s birthday but directed him to pay Rs 5,000 on every visit towards the mother’s travel expenses and the child’s costs. The father approached the high court, challenging this condition.Justice Sree Sudha noted that the new visitation centre was about 16km away from both parents’ residences, unlike the earlier location, which was closer. The court also took note of the father’s submissions that the mother had failed to bring the child for several scheduled visits without prior notice.Observing that the mother’s conduct reflected reluctance to facilitate the father’s access to the child, the court said she had sought a change in the venue herself and therefore could not claim conveyance expenses. Accordingly, the direction to pay Rs 5,000 per visit was set aside.The high court cautioned that if the mother continued to obstruct the father’s visitation rights, her conduct would be taken into account while deciding the pending child custody case. Justice Sree Sudha directed her to strictly comply with the court’s visitation orders going forward.HC gets six new judgesThe President of India Friday appointed six additional judges to Karnataka high court. They are: Raghavendra Seetharam Srivatsa, Hema Kulkarni, Subramanya Rangarao, Thadagavadi Prakash Vivekananda, Bakkeswara Pramod, and Hombe Gowda Shanthi Bhushan. The Supreme Court collegium, in its meeting held on June 2, had approved the proposal for the appointment of the six advocates as judges of the high court.KPSC scam report after HC nodThe high court Friday directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and police not to submit their final report/chargesheet in the KPSC veterinary officers’ recruitment scam case without its permission. Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order while hearing a batch of petitions, including one seeking a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).State public prosecutor BN Jagadeesha placed on record status reports on investigations conducted so far by the jurisdictional police and CID. The SPP sought 10 more days to file objections to the petitions. On the other hand, the petitioners expressed apprehension that while taking time to file objections, the final report/chargesheet would be filed before the court concerned. The judge then passed the interim direction and adjourned the hearing to Aug 20.ESIC told to consider wage ceiling pleaThe high court has directed the Centre and Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) to consider within six weeks representations made by trade unions seeking an increase in the wage ceiling for coverage under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948.Justice Jyoti M passed the order on Aug 4 while disposing of petitions by five trade unions. They had challenged the Centre’s alleged failure to revise the ceiling under Section 2(9) of the ESI Act, corresponding to Section 2(89) of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The ceiling, fixed at Rs 21,000 a month, has remained unchanged since 2016 despite cumulative inflation of 45-50%. The unions said this continued stagnation has resulted in progressive exclusion of a large and growing section of workers from social security protection, denying them medical, maternity and disability benefits.
