Supreme Court Directs Regular Video Conferencing Between Father and Son Living in Ireland
A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta heard an appeal by a father challenging the order of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana in FAO No. 2655 of 2023 concerning custody and visitation rights in an international relocation case. The appellant sought limited relief only for regular video interaction with his nine-year-old son who was living with his mother in Ireland.
The Court allowed the father's limited prayer for virtual contact and framed its decision by prioritising the child's welfare over parental disputes. The bench held that it would not be in the child's interest to disturb his present settled life in Ireland, but directed structured virtual visitation to preserve the parent-child relationship. The Court, in its reasoning, observed: The Court further noted that “Every child has a right to the affection of both parents,” and concluded that the father's request for video interaction was “both fair and necessary.” The Supreme Court directed that the father would be entitled to interact with his son by video-conferencing for two hours on every alternate Sunday from 10.00 AM to 12 noon (Ireland time), and directed the parties to cooperate in good faith to ensure smooth sessions, resolving technical or logistical difficulties jointly.
Background The dispute arose from a long-standing matrimonial and custody conflict. The parties married in November 2012 and their son was born in January 2016. The mother left the matrimonial home in 2017 and filed for divorce under Sections 13(1)(ia) and (ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act. The father initiated custody proceedings before the Family Court in 2018. The Family Court initially permitted limited meetings and, by interim order dated 03.02.2022, granted the father custody on alternate weekends subject to the condition that the child would not be taken out of Rohtak, Haryana. The Family Court later dismissed the father's petition by final order dated 27.03.2023 on the ground of breach of the interim order.
During the pendency of appellate proceedings, the mother took the child to Ireland. The High Court dismissed the father's appeal on 04.10.2024, noting this Court’s earlier dismissal of a Special Leave Petition and finding no material to show the mother was incapable of caring for the child, observing that the child had been living with the mother since August 2017. The father approached the Supreme Court and limited his appeal to securing video visitation rights. The Supreme Court balanced the reality of the child's settled life abroad with the importance of maintaining a parental relationship and declined to order a disruption of the child's residence. It allowed the limited relief for video-conferencing, disposed of the appeal accordingly, and directed cooperation to implement the arrangement; pending applications, if any, were disposed of.
Case Details: Case No.: Civil Appeal No. 11332 of 2025 (arising from SLP(C) No. 25029 of 2025; Diary No. 60690/2024) Case Title: Manoj Dhankar v. Neeharika & Ors. Appearances: For the Petitioner(s): Senior counsel for the appellant (unnamed in the judgment) For the Respondent(s): Counsel for the respondents (unnamed in the judgment)