custody of child can not be sought on the ground of religion
An argument was urged before the Learned Single bearing on the fact that the father of the minor professes the Christian religion, while the maternal grandparents are Hindus and it was urged that the grandparents may not be able to initiate the child into Christian precepts. This submission was not pressed
and correctly so, during the course of the hearing of the appeal by counsel appearing on behalf of the Appellant. In any event, even if the aspect of religion is borne in mind, it is evident that the child was born in a family where the father professes Christianity and the mother was a Hindu. Evidently in such a situation it would be most inappropriate to assign to the religion of one parent such an overwhelming importance as to override the balance of other factors which bear on the welfare of the child. Moreover, as the Learned Judge noted, it is a matter of significance that though the child was nearly three years of age when the mother met an unnatural end, she had not been baptized by the parents until then. The mother had not converted to Christianity during her lifetime. This is certainly a matter of relevance and would also have a bearing on the wishes of the deceased parent. The wishes of a deceased parent in a situation such as
the present where the mother has met an unnatural end at an early age
becomes a fairly subjective if not hypothetical exercise. The legislature has guardedly used the words "the wishes, if any, of a deceased parent". The Court must, in due regard to the statute, weigh this aspect together with all other
circumstances.1
Bombay High Court
Louella Fernandes vs Rajan Chawla on 8 July, 2013
Bench: Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud
CORAM : DR.D.Y.CHANDRACHUD, AND
S.C.GUPTE, JJ.
Citation;2013(5)ALL M R 532
https://www.lawweb.in/2013/12/custody-of-child-can-not-be-sought-on.html
