Guardianship case: Delhi HC affirms child's welfare in school transfer plea dismissal

New Delhi: Upholding a family court's order, the Delhi High Court has dimissed a father's plea seeking the transfer of his child, to a purportedly "better" school, saying that the welfare of the child holds paramount importance in guardianship cases.

A division bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora dismissed the plea noting that the suggested school by the father was in Dwarka, 20 kilometers away, while the child resided with the mother in Pitampura.

The court noted that granting the order sought by the appellant would inconvenience the seven-year-old child and therefore could not be approved.

The father contested a family court order that rejected his application to direct the child's mother to enroll the child in a Dwarka school.

The family court, in its decision, acknowledged the slightly better rating of the proposed school but said that the child had already settled into the current school in Pitampura.

Shifting the child back to the Dwarka school was deemed potentially harmful to his learning environment, considering the comfort of going and coming with the mother and constant supervision.

The appellant offered to arrange private transportation between Pitampura and Dwarka, but the court, considering the mother's counterargument about a branch in Rohini, found no justification to overturn the family court's decision.

The respondent-mother suggested the appellant arrange admission in the Rohini branch if he intended to send the child to the suggested school.

The court, in this context, saw no grounds for interference with the family court's order.