In a significant order liable to change the way children of separated parents are brought up, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has advocated “shared parenting”. A Division Bench has made it clear that the concept of shared parenting could be suggested to the “parties” when they approach the police for lodging complaints alleging cruelty and other offences.

Key Points:

• The direction came after the Bench of Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Ashok Kumar Verma observed that the court was seized of a number of cases in which a child’s emotional and psychological requirements were not being properly taken into account while deciding the divorce petitions filed by the parents under the Hindu Marriage Act.
• The Bench said the parents would not have to travel for years to the courts, if the concept of shared parenting was advised at the initial stages. Referring to the Law Commission’s report of May 2015, the Bench asserted it had been observed that a child had the birthright to meet his parents and grandparents.
• It was further observed in the report that several disputes could be resolved through mediation. But professional assistance might be required in the case of mediation as neither the court, nor the mediators, were qualified to understand child psychology.