Children rights violation and Indian courts - Instablogs
Children rights violation and Indian courts
Jayanth Siff , Bangalore: Apr 28 2009
Made Popular Apr 29 2009
India :

Children rights violation and Indian courts

Courts are there to uphold citizen’s rights, Right? Read on and find out the truth about how Human Rights (Child Rights) are violated.

Thousands of divorce cases languish in our family courts and children & their non-custodial parents wait indefinitely for “Visitation Rights”. It’s the parents getting divorced, not the children. This is common sense and the children are cut off from their non custodial parents.

In-fact this is a mental torture tool that the custodial parents (usually wives) use to harass their husbands and the courts passively abet this by delaying visitation rights for years. By then the child will probably even forget his parent.
Recently in Bangalore, Syed Makhdoom comitted suicide, being unable to bear the separation from his son. The matter was highlighted in all leading TV channels and newspapers.

In-fact “visitation rights” itself is a primitive concept. It should be shared parenting. That is the child should have access to both parents at will. But Indian Judges don’t even seem to have heard of it. It’s not for the courts to intervene and say that one parent can only visit his/her child during weekends and some holidays. What if the child has problems with his education and needs both the parents to teach?

Ironically, a non-custodial parent can visit orphans in an orphanage, teach there without restrictions but this his own child.
This is a human rights violation and is in contravention of UN’s child’s rights convention which is binding on India.

See this for more details.

Some excerpts from this:

Article 7: The right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

Article 5: State Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents.

Article 8: (1). States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference.

(2). Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to speedily re-establishing his or her identity
Article 9:

(1). States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will
(3). States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests.
Article 18

(1). States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child.

Judges mindlessly delay on matters on what is common sense? Is it not common sense that the child will grow up like an illegitimate while waiting for great judges “to pass orders”? Maintenance is passed with retrospective effect. Can a judge do the same with “visitation rights”?

Is this not common sense? There are more than double the numbers of suicides among married men than married women. Non-believers, please see National Crime Records Bureau Statistics!

By the way Article 51A (j) of the Indian Constitution enshrines a fundamental duty of every citizen to improve him/her self individually & collectively as a nation building process. To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement.”

Is this not applicable to Judges? Aren’t the Judges supposed to improve themselves too professionally? They have immunity from the law (and hence unaccountable?). Are they beyond the constitution also? By the way, the Indian Judiciary goes on almost 2 months of vacations in a year (at the tax payer’s expense of course). This is apart from the other holidays & weekends that the Indian calendar is peppered with. It probably has the dubious distinction of being the only judiciary in the world that goes on such vacations.

The law makers are the worst. Laws are passed with little or no discussions/ debate.

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1 Stars
Sanyog
Chennai, India
There are many flaws that we come across often in the Indian constitution and many which shows biasness towards one party
1 Stars
Elias
Bombay, India
Jayant
Children have been denied their legitimate rights continuously. They are the worse affected by the separation of parents and will have to struggle hard for the maintenance. The Indian Judiciary has passive approach towards the child rights.
1 Stars
Jayanth Siff
Bangalore, India
Elias,
You are absolutely right!Its the innocent children who suffer.The apathy of the judges is unbelievable!The practice (sic) to cut off financial support is usually a reaction (though I am not justifying it), to make the custodial parent(usually wife) who prevents her husband from seeing his children - a mental torture tool.
There are very few cases where Indian men claim maintenance or even get custody of their children.
1 Stars
Nuya Bidness
Birmingham, United States
If both parties involved were decent people to start with, they probably would not be getting a divorce.



Children should know both parents and should never be used as a weapon to hurt the ex-spouse, but it happens. Parents should never abuse their children, but it happens.

The courts cannot make a disinterested parent spend time with his or her child.

There is only so much you can lay at the doorstep of the courts, ultimately the parents have to care enough to do the right thing for their children, no matter what is or is not ordered by the court.
1 Stars
Jayanth Siff
Bangalore, India
Dear Nuya Bidness,
(1)Please!We don’t live in an ideal world!Its not just ”indecent” people who file for divorce!There are also people who grow apart and move on decently with mutual respect and part as friends! There are cases where they even stay close by to look after their children and one case I came across where a divorced husband continued to be friends with his former father-in-law!Decent enough? (Reason for divorce?He was a schizophrenic whom the wife couldn’t manage).
(2)About your comment ”The courts cannot make a disinterested parent spend time with his or her child”:
I see that you are in (from?) US.The article is about INDIAN courts.And the discriminatory way in which the law is implemented (usually against men).Here its not disinterested parent one is talking about. Its the apathy shown by Indian courts!
FYI- The apathy is not restricted to children only. Its more widespread.You may remember the Bhopal gas tragedy (where thousands died due to a toxic gas leak).It took about 20 YEARS to dispense justice.Many died waiting for it.If you visit some of the courts, you can witness the way some of the judges behave (and the less said the better)!
There are provisions in the Indian law where a woman can VERBALLY complain to the police and the husband can be arrested & jailed based on this. The verbal complaint is treated as sufficient ”evidence” with the onus being on the husband to disprove it!
2 Stars
Nuya Bidness
Birmingham, United States
I knew after I clicked ’post comment’ that that would not be taken the right way.... what I mean is... A good man is not going to get rid of a good wife....and a good woman is not going to get rid of a good husband on a whim. Something has to be wrong with one of them, or there would not be a divorce happening, like that mental illness.

People do not just wake up one morning after 5, 10, 15 years of marriage and say, ”Hey honey, why don’t we get a divorce?”

People who are getting a divorce obviously can’t agree on things, so why would they all of a sudden start agreeing AFTER they divorce?

So the court has to decide what is wrong with one or both of them before they make a decision about the children. Unfortunately, that is not always easy to tell, people lie, it takes time to get to the truth and children grow up while all this is happening.

If they are both decent people, they will not wait for the courts, they will make a schedule for visits and child support and they will stick to it. I can’t really see that happening too often, can you?

Here in the US the courts are so backed up with stupid, frivolous lawsuits that important things have to wait. Things like, someone’s tree limb drops leaves in the neighbor’s yard and people falling down in grocery stores so they can sue the store because they are too lazy to work. But I do understand about the apathy and the unprofessional conduct of judges.

They have the same law here, women say they are threatened and the guy goes to jail. When the guys get out, they are really mad and go beat her up or kill her. It almost always comes down to he said/she said but because he is bigger and stronger and more likely do to violence, it is the man who is removed.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Jayanth Siff
Bangalore, India
A joke about Members of Parliament of India (the great law makers who do a miserable job):

Question: What do the members of parliament do in parliament?
Answer: They pass motions.
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