SURINDER KAUR AND ANR. Vs. HARBANS SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE natural phenomena provides the birth of a child. Be it a man child or siblings of the animal. Scientifically the blood of the parents flows in the veins of the child. I pose a question to myself. Can such a wonderful thing coming into existence by virtue of the act of God/Nature by providing the machinery i.e. the male and female be treated as a chattel? We can always buy a property jointly, individually and claim the ownership in respect thereof. If the property is obtained jointly, the co -owners raise a dispute to share it equally. The inanimate things can be divided by measure of scale or by way of weights and measures. Can an animate thing be divided in the same fashion, the answer is No. The animate things must go to one person as a whole. However, there are certain animate things which can be weighed and measured in terms of money. Can the man child be measured and weighed in the same manner and be bought and retained by an individual, especially when the division has to take place between the two persons who were responsible for production of the child?

(2.) OVER the year, this question has posed problems in the society and of course in some circumstances brought before the courts. Sometimes the solutions are found by the producers themselves but the difficulty arises when each one of them wants to own and retain the child. Are we right in saying that child can be owned by any of the parents? By becoming father one does not get the right to own and control the child. Similarly, the mother keeping the child in the womb for nine months and ultimately delivering the child to the world, does not become entitled to own and control the child. Though in the general terms both are entitled to use the word that "the child is mine". How long can you say that the child is mine? The child grows under the shadow of the parents and when the child starts running, he tries to find the shadow of the nature and ultimately men and women and children in the world he may meet. After growing up he also becomes the shelter for the younger generation.

(3.) THE medical science has positively indicated as to in what manner the intelligent quotient of the child develops. The environments around the child is the major contribution in this episode. The contribution of the parents is also no less. According to the old school of thoughts and the philosophy which has developed, the mother has always been accepted and treated as the "first teacher" of the child. The child starts becoming aware of the world under the aegis of the mother. Certainly protective growth is given to the child by the mother. The love and affection develops during this period. It is the accepted fact that according to Hindu mythology and Hindu law, father is accepted as head of the family and is responsible for meeting day to day needs and the materialistic characterisation of the family. This also contributes a major factor for the development of the psychology of the child. The child takes the first step the shelter is provided by the mother and father. The laughters have positive indication in the comfortable development of various horizons in the psyche of the child. We cannot forget the first teacher i.e. "the mother". The first four years of the child make the child acquire the maximum of intelligent quotient. No doubt the father figure adds considerably to it because the child starts looking towards father as an "ideal man" because till then he may not have come across any man in whose arms he could play and cuddle and enjoy the cozziness in his lap. Happy are the parents who are together with the child in these years and blessed is the child who grows in such surroundings.