MP High Court: Father Gets Child Custody Conditional on Not Remarrying or Live-In Relation

Home / News updates MP High Court Gives Custody Of 4-Year-Old To Father Until He Remarries Or Enters Live-In Relationship X Father's Custody of Minor Daughter Is Conditional on Staying Unmarried, Rules MP High Court The Madhya Pradesh High Court has given a father custody of his four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, with free access and periodic stays for the mother, on the condition that custody ends if he remarries or enters a live-in relationship. The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur has handed over the custody of a four-and-a-half-year-old girl to her father, while making it clear that the arrangement will end the moment he remarries or enters a live-in relationship, after which the child must be returned to her mother. A division bench of Chief Justice Alpesh Y. Kogje and Justice Vivek Jain passed the order on September 30 while disposing of a writ petition filed by Shyam Kushwaha against the State of Madhya Pradesh and others. The petitioner had approached the High Court after his wife and their minor daughter went missing. He sought the record of the police inquiry that followed a missing person report dated February 6, 2026, registered as Rojnamcha No. 017. He also asked for a direction to the police to conduct a "fair, effective and expeditious investigation" to trace both of them. He also wanted the police to examine the mobile number and bank account transactions of his wife, and to act against anyone found concealing or withholding their whereabouts. The petition further prayed that if the wife was found confined by anyone against her will, it be treated as a habeas corpus plea, and that she be allowed to live with him if she voluntarily agreed. Acting on its earlier direction of September 25, the Court had the woman and the child produced before it through lady Sub-Inspector Shashikala Uike and T.I. Rakesh Parteti of Police Station Barela, Jabalpur. The police reported that both were found in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, with a man named Rajkumar. The Bench recorded that the woman is 25 years old and has studied up to the sixth standard, but "appears to be capable of understanding the consequences of her acts." The Court spoke to her individually as well as in the presence of counsel. She expressed her wish to go along with Rajkumar, which she attributed to "matrimonial differences" with her husband. The Court also interacted with Rajkumar, who works as a driver in Noida and is a local of Etawah. The woman repeated before the Bench that she wished to go with him. On the question of the child, however, the Court took a different view. "The Court upon interaction with Rajkumar and considering his financial status as well as his financial background deems it fit to give the custody of the child" to the petitioner, the order says. The mother, it noted, was herself "ready and willing" to let the girl go with her father. The Bench also ascertained that the father's household includes other family members, among them "his two sisters-in-law and their children." To ensure the mother stays in her daughter's life, the Court attached two conditions to the custody. First, whenever the mother wishes to meet her daughter, she is free to visit the petitioner, who must give her "free access" to the child. Second, the petitioner must send the girl to the mother, wherever she is located, once every two months for a period of one week. The Bench described the mother's concern as "also a reasonable one" and made the father's custody conditional. It will continue only "till he gets remarried." If the petitioner remarries or enters a live-in relationship, "it would be incumbent for him to handover the possession" of the child to the mother. With these directions, the petition was disposed of. Advocate Baldeo Prasad Patel appeared for the petitioner, while Government Advocate Dr. S.S. Chouhan represented the State. Case Title: Shyam Kushwaha vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh and Others Date of Order: September 30, 2026 Bench: Chief Justice Al