ARUN SHARMA Vs. ROXANN SHARMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Introduction:

(2.) The appellant, a Hindu by religion, married the respondent, a Jamaican born American of Indian origin. She is a Christian by faith and an American by citizenship. They met, fell in love, and married in the USA. It was in 2009. When they were living there, on 18 April 2012 they had a son[ In matrimonial matters, names are nemeses. So I avoid the boy's name. ]. This case is about that child caught in the parental crossfire.

(3.) When in the USA, the respondent was employed: She was a 'tenured' professor in the English Literature. After the child's birth, the couple moved over to India. They first began to reside in Pune. There, a few months later, the appellant's mother joined them. The mother-in-law's addition seems to have provided the proverbial setting to the family's problems. The respondent and the mother-in-law could not get along well; the respondent felt, as the Appellate Court puts it, that her mother-in-law usurped her role and responsibility as the child's mother.