New Delhi (ILNS): A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court by a father seeking custody of his children after the untimely death of his wife. They children are with his wife’s sister and brother. The top court bench of Chief Justice S. A. Bobde and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian will hear the plea today.
The appellant has brought the case before the top court after the state authorities did not act positively to his request to release the children from the custody of his wife’s brother and sister.
The petitioner’s children have been living with the wife’s brother and sister after their mother died. The petitioner has maintained that the relatives of his wife took his wife and children from Gurugram to Bengaluru, where they said they will get his wife medically examined. He further said that his wife was alright except for a slight blood pressure issue and added that he was not even informed about the sudden demise of his wife.
The petitioner believes that his children are being tortured, and their life and liberty are in danger. He has claimed that he is not permitted to talk to his children, nor do the relatives respond to his requests of giving back his children.
It is submitted that childhood and adolescence are critical stages of development. Traumatic experiences in these phases of life have long-lasting impressions, which are carried into adulthood and persist lifelong. Liberty not only includes liberty but also the right of human beings to live with dignity as per the scope of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution
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The court said that as per Article 21 of the Constitution of India the term liberty not only includes liberty but also the right of human beings to live with dignity. Because the state is under the constitutional mandate to create conditions in which the fundamental rights guaranteed to the individuals under part III could be enjoyed by all. Children require special care and protection under all circumstances and it is the duty of the state to ensure that.
It is a well-known fact that psychological distress manifests itself in different forms –physically (headache, stomach pain) and behaviourally (withdrawal, aggression towards people or even themselves).
-ILNS