Surat family court puts stay on monkhood of a 12-year-old boy in Surat

An invitation for event, which had gone viral on social media, was submitted to the court.

In his arguments on Tuesday, the father’s lawyer said, “We came across the invitation card on social media platforms. We were shocked. When the case for the legal custody of the minor is pending in the court, how come his mother makes a decision solely regarding his monkhood. He (the father) is also an equal legal guardian of the boy. Once the boy attains monkhood, he has to cut all ties with his family and relatives and his worldly desires and walk on a religious path. The boy is a minor and immature. He does not know what is good and bad for him. Religion is not above the judiciary.”

Meanwhile, the lawyer who appeared on the behalf of the boy’s mother, said, “The decision has been solely taken by my son. After our separation, my husband had never taken any initiative to take care of our son’s education, or meet other financial requirements… and now he has come to demand the legal custody of our son.”

The court, while putting the stay order on Tuesday, observed, “Presently the custody of the boy is with his mother. The applicant, who is the father of the boy, has filed an application with family court in relation to the Guardian and Wards Act Section 7 and 25, (which) is still pending in the court and it is on the stage of evidence. The invitation card copy is submitted with the court, which says that the diksha ceremony is on 21st and 22nd May in Surat. The defense side had not objected on the genuinity of the invitation card. The defense side had not brought on record of the court that a mutual compromise process was going on. As per the Indian Constitution Article 25, every person has the right to follow his religion. The defense arguments on this cannot be accepted. A minor is not capable of taking decision for his future, till he attains 18 years of age. In this case, the minor is 12-yea-old and he is not mature enough to take decisions about his future…”

Talking to The Indian Express, the mother’s lawyer also said, “We are not satisfied with the court order. We will first study the order in detail and decide on challenging it in the upper courts. We have also produced in the court scriptures, which state that there is a provision that allows a boy to attain monkhood after he attains the age of 8.”

The lawyer for the boy’s father, on the other hand, said, “We are satisfied with the court order. The judge considered that there are over three litigations on the custody of the boy pending. Once he attains monkhood, the court order will be of no use.”

The boy’s father, a resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Indore had got married to his mother, who hails from Surat, in 2008. Their son was born in 2013. Sources said that the couple used to fight frequently and eventually got separated. The woman returned to Surat to stay with her parents in 2016. She refused to go back to her husband’s house and had also filed a complaint at Adajan police station in 2018 against her husband and his parents over alleged dowry demands and other domestic issues. The man and his parents later obtained anticipatory bail. The case, at present, is being regularly heard in court. The woman had also filed a domestic violence case against her husband, and filed an application in the Surat family court seeking maintenance from her husband for herself and her child.

The boy’s father, meanwhile, under the Guardians and Wards Act, had applied for the custody of his son in 2023. The decision is pending. He had also filed an application with the family court to get an interim custody of his son on April 24 this year, and the court is yet to decide on that as well.