Supreme Court reverses child custody order after minor has mental breakdown

It took a 12-year-old boy’s emotional collapse for the Supreme Court to reassess and overturn its earlier custody ruling. Nearly 10 months after instructing the mother to transfer custody of her son to her former husband. The Supreme Court reverses child custody order after minor has mental breakdown, acknowledging the serious mental and emotional toll it had on the child.

The boy, deeply unwilling to part from his mother, is currently receiving psychiatric care at Christian Medical College, Vellore. The situation prompted the Supreme Court to reconsider its stance.

Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B. Varale, forming the bench, openly admitted that the prior judgment had a deeply damaging impact on the child’s well-being. They noted that the father—who had minimal involvement in the child’s life over the past 12 years—had become the court-appointed custodian, which turned out to be harmful. Recognizing this, the bench reversed its earlier order and restored custody to the mother.

The parents had separated after two years of marriage in 2011, and the child had remained with the mother ever since. She remarried in 2015. In 2022, as the mother planned to relocate to Malaysia with her new family, the state intervened, seeking custody on behalf of the father. Although the family court initially denied the request, both the Kerala High Court and later the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the father in August 2024.

However, this shift in custody caused a steep decline in the child’s mental health. According to expert psychological evaluations, the boy began exhibiting signs of acute anxiety and displayed high vulnerability to separation anxiety disorder. In response, the mother filed a review petition and submitted supporting medical documentation.

Upon reviewing the new evidence, the Court emphasized that forcing a child into an unfamiliar household—especially one with a father he barely knows—was unfair and emotionally damaging. The bench observed that the boy viewed his father almost as a stranger and struggled to adjust in the new environment. It further remarked that expecting the child to thrive under such circumstances would be unreasonable and lacking compassion.

The Court acknowledged that the distress experienced by the child was a direct result of its prior decision. The medical evidence submitted during the review was central to the Court's change of position, ultimately leading to the restoration of custody to the mother.

Case details: [R. Anitha vs R. Shaji]