Can original order be modified in contempt petition ?
ks
(Querist) 02 September 2021
This query is : Open
Dear Experts,
I hv filed contempt petition against my wife who is not complying the child visitation order. She said that 8 years old child is not ready to meet. Now High Court judge of contempt petition is saying to meet my child in Family Court once/twice a month. (Order has not been passed yet.) Whereas my original order is to bring child at my home twice a week 9 hrs per day.
Can he do so ? What is the remedy available to me ?
K Rajasekharan
(Expert) 02 September 2021
In a contempt petition the court is not authorised to alter the original order to any extent, as an appellate court can do.
What the High Court judge said might be a benign out of court suggestion to you which may not form part of his order. In fact, what he said is the right course particularly when there is clash between parent as to the pace of exchange of child. There is a built-in record and system for monitoring the exchange of child in the court premises.
If she moves a petition in the court, he will get an order with change of place for exchange of the child. The present order is not an appropriate one, it seems.
