Courts are there to uphold citizen’s rights, Right? Read on and find out the truth about how Human Rights (Child Rights) are violated.
Thousands of divorce cases languish in our family courts and children & their non-custodial parents wait indefinitely for “Visitation Rights”. It’s the parents getting divorced, not the children. This is common sense and the children are cut off from their non custodial parents.
In-fact this is a mental torture tool that the custodial parents (usually wives) use to harass their husbands and the courts passively abet this by delaying visitation rights for years. By then the child will probably even forget his parent.
Recently in Bangalore, Syed Makhdoom comitted suicide, being unable to bear the separation from his son. The matter was highlighted in all leading TV channels and newspapers.
In-fact “visitation rights” itself is a primitive concept. It should be shared parenting. That is the child should have access to both parents at will. But Indian Judges don’t even seem to have heard of it. It’s not for the courts to intervene and say that one parent can only visit his/her child during weekends and some holidays. What if the child has problems with his education and needs both the parents to teach?
Ironically, a non-custodial parent can visit orphans in an orphanage, teach there without restrictions but this his own child.
This is a human rights violation and is in contravention of UN’s child’s rights convention which is binding on India.
See this for more details.
Some excerpts from this:
Article 7: The right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.
Article 5: State Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents.
Article 8: (1). States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference.
(2). Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to speedily re-establishing his or her identity
Article 9:
(1). States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will
(3). States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests.
Article 18
(1). States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child.
Judges mindlessly delay on matters on what is common sense? Is it not common sense that the child will grow up like an illegitimate while waiting for great judges “to pass orders”? Maintenance is passed with retrospective effect. Can a judge do the same with “visitation rights”?
Is this not common sense? There are more than double the numbers of suicides among married men than married women. Non-believers, please see National Crime Records Bureau Statistics!
By the way Article 51A (j) of the Indian Constitution enshrines a fundamental duty of every citizen to improve him/her self individually & collectively as a nation building process. To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement.”
Is this not applicable to Judges? Aren’t the Judges supposed to improve themselves too professionally? They have immunity from the law (and hence unaccountable?). Are they beyond the constitution also? By the way, the Indian Judiciary goes on almost 2 months of vacations in a year (at the tax payer’s expense of course). This is apart from the other holidays & weekends that the Indian calendar is peppered with. It probably has the dubious distinction of being the only judiciary in the world that goes on such vacations.
The law makers are the worst. Laws are passed with little or no discussions/ debate.
