Cal HC
Kolkata : The trial judge must first interact with a minor before granting interim custody for the child’s welfare, Calcutta High Court observed, upholding the trial judge’s opinion on the same and directing the child to be produced before the judge on Oct 9 for interaction. The mother of a three-year-old approached the single bench of Justice Supratim Bhattacharya, challenging a trial judge’s order of Dec 22, 2025, which specified that the trial judge needed to first interact with the minor to determine whom the interim custody would be granted to. The child was directed to be produced before the trial judge at 10 am in the chamber of the district judge at Alipore on Oct 9 for an interaction between the child and the district judge. In the meantime, the interim order of meeting with the child by the mother every Sunday between 5 pm and 6 pm at Hiland Park, Kolkata, will continue, the HC directed.
So, as regards granting interim custody of a child aged about four years, the trial judge is to hear the said child, which has been opined through the order,” the HC judge held. The advocate representing the mother submitted that the child requires the love and affection of both the mother and the father and that, as such, interim custody be handed over to the mother. It was pointed out that the child presently lives with the father. He also submitted that the mother was the right person to have the custody of a child aged about three to four years. The advocate representing the father argued that the child had been produced on each and every date as per the direction of the trial court, barring those days on which the child had been unwell. “The utmost consideration of a court while dealing with the interest of a minor child is the welfare and well-being of the child.