Criminal Trial: Son on balcony, Father on the road, High Court provides Solution

A father who has been facing criminal trial after his wife’s death was on Thursday allowed by the HC to see his 10-year-old son once a week from the road while the boy stands on the first-floor balcony of his grandparents’ home.

Justice Shampa Sarkar of Calcutta HC issued the order after speaking to the child for about 10 minutes in the courtroom.

The judge called the boy close to her seat & spoke to him while his grandparents’ lawyers stood at a distance & the rest of the courtroom watched. The others in the court couldn't hear them as they spoke in low voices.

“The grandfather will allow the boy to stand on the verandah of the two-storey building where he stays with his maternal grandparents for 10 minutes every Saturday. The father will be allowed to see his son from the road in front of the said building,” Justice Sarkar said in her order.

The court had to make such an arrangement as the grandfather isn't ready to allow his son-in-law to enter his home.

The father, who teaches at a school in Basirhat, North 24-Parganas, had moved a petition seeking custody of his son, who has been staying with his maternal grandparents since his mother’s death.

The schoolteacher had married a woman living in Rezinagar, Basirhat, in 2008. A son was born to them in 2010.

The wife died of burns in Dec 2017. “After her death, the woman’s father lodged a police complaint against his son-in-law under Section 498A (mental & physical torture on wife) & Section 302 (murder) of the IPC & the son-in-law had to obtain bail from court,” the counsel appearing for the teacher said.

The teacher was accused of trying to kidnap the boy when he went to his school one day earlier this year to try & talk to him.

The teacher’s lawyer told the court that the grandfather had prevented him from meeting his son.

“After obtaining anticipatory bail in the criminal (kidnapping) case, my client had moved a case in Barasat court seeking custody of his son. As the Barasat court turned down his prayer, the teacher appealed against the decision of the lower court,” the lawyer said.

After admitting the petition for hearing, Justice Sarkar had said last week that she wanted to talk to the child before arriving at a decision.

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