MUNNODIYIL PERAVAKUTTY Vs. KUNIYEDATH CHALIL VELAYUDHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Welfare of the child is the paramount consideration. This appealing phrase, easy to understand but less easy to apply, is invoked by the parents of the mother of the child, Anisha. The Additional District Judge, Kozhikode, in the O.P.No.136 of 1989 filed by Anisha's father, Velayudhan, ordered that Anisha be given in his custody. The parents of the deceased mother of the child, impugn the order.

(2.) In this appeal the appellants are referred to as 'maternal grand parents' and the respondent as the 'father'. The child's mother died by drowning in a well on the evening of 6th September, 1988 when the father was away. According to the father, she committed suicide as she was depressed, by the fact that her husband, a sergeant in the Indian Army, was summoned to Sri Lanka to continue his duties in the I.P.K.F. The grandparents, on the other hand, urge that the father, by practice of cruelty drove her to commit suicide. The conduct of the father in relation to his wife, is not under investigation in this case. Therefore we are not called upon to inquire into the circumstances in which the child's mother died, unless, of course, such circumstances are shown to be relevant for considering what is in the best interest of the child, which has not been done.

(3.) The facts relevant to the question of the welfare of the child which emerge from the evidence are as under: