The CRF said that it is well known that children are the primary victims of divorce and largely bear the brunt of custody matters.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Cent-re’s response on a petition filed by Child Rights Foundation (CRF) for laying down norms for custody of children affected by the divorce of their parents and guidelines for ‘shared parenting’.
A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Sanjay Kishan Kaul issued notice on the petition after hearing senior counsel Santosh Paul, appearing for the NGO CRF, which said the present petition had been filed for all children who are faced with antagonising situations in the courts due to their parents’ ‘irretrievable breakage of marriage’.
The CRF said that it is well known that children are the primary victims of divorce and largely bear the brunt of custody matters. “With the noble intention of protecting our children, the Family Court Act, 1984 was passed by Parliament. However, approximately 400 family courts functioning in India today have completely failed to protect and safeguard the best interests and welfare of our children thus depriving them love and affection of both the parents,” it said.
It pointed out that as per the present system, custody of the child is awarded to one parent and very limited access or visitation rights are granted to the other parent i.e. non-custodial parent.
