12 Kolkata: A draft guideline on child access and custody, firmed up by the rule committee of the Calcutta High Court, was placed before a division bench of the HC for adoption on Thursday.
The division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya referred the matter to the court of Justice Soumen Sen, the chairman of the rule committee.
The high court rule committee, comprising Justice Arijit Banerjee, Justice Subhra Ghosh, a child psychiatrist and lawyers, made its recommendations, based on child access and custody guidelines, prepared by a Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Child Rights Foundation.
The counsel for the petitioner on Thursday submitted to the division bench that the guidelines were recognised by many high courts in the country. The guidelines were sent to the Calcutta High Court rule committee and also to the district judges, seeking their opinions.
The rule committee, after a few sittings, had made their recommendations to the high court.
The rule committee didn't accept the Mumbai NGO guidelines verbatim. It modified certain portions about the time of visits by parents. Unlike the guidelines of the Mumbai non-governmental organisation, the rule committee didn't recommend specific timings for visits but left it open to the discretion of the judge.
The chief justice held that although the rule committee recommendations were an administrative guideline, they would bind the district judiciary.