Meeting grandparents can never be detrimental for a child: Calcutta HC
Times of India | 25 May 2025
Calcutta HC KOLKATA: Meeting grandparents can never be detrimental for a child and should not be stopped, Calcutta High Court has observed in a dispute over visitation rights involving a teenager's estranged parents.The court directed the family court to reconsider a Ballygunge resident's application seeking to let his child stay with him and his parents during visitation. The girl lives in Delhi and comes to Kolkata to visit her dad.The girl's father, who filed for divorce in 2019, had made a plea for temporary custody of the child before Alipore court on April 11, 2023. After the plea was rejected, he moved Calcutta HC, which granted him visitation rights during vacations and other occasions. At the time, he lived in a rented accommodation. On Jan 22, 2025, he approached the family court stating that he wanted to move back to his parents' house as he was unable to pay the high rent and wanted his daughter's visitations to be allowed at her grandparents' house. The family court, however, rejected the plea and ordered that the girl was no longer required to visit Kolkata. This came after the teenager told the lower court judge that it was difficult for her to visit Kolkata frequently as she had to miss school every time.'Grandparents' affection has positive impact on a minor' The family court judge noted that since the girl was in class 6 and would soon be promoted to class 7, her education was of utmost priority. The wishes of the grandparents to see the child, though legitimate, would have to be limited to fit the curriculum and the schedule of the child, the court ruled.The father, represented by advocates Uday Gupta, Rohan Dwaipayan Bhowmick and Ankita Dey, appealed against the family court order in HC. Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya on May 22 directed the family court to reconsider allowing the girl to live in her grandparents' house when visiting her father during vacations. "In our society, grandparents are emotionally attached to their grandchildren. The order does not record anything adverse against the grandparents to indicate that they acted in a manner detrimental to the welfare of the minor. To the mind of this court, a meeting between the grandparents and the granddaughter can, by no stretch of the imagination, be said to be adverse to the welfare and development of the minor. The love and affection of the grandparents would have a positive impact on the life and mind of a minor rather than affecting her education and other extracurricular activities," the judge held."It is evident that the opposite party herein did not seek to stop the visitation at Kolkata but only prayed for an order to ensure that the child reaches home in Delhi by 5 pm on Sunday," the judge held.