Case Of Children Be Dealt With Compassion: Delhi High Court Issues Directions For Considering Guardianship Applications & Protection Of Properties
The Delhi High Court was dealing with two Writ Petitions of minors who had lost their parents and it was stated that the properties belonging to their parents are being frittered away.
The Delhi High Court has issued certain directions to the Courts considering the Applications for guardianship and for protection of properties of the children.
The Court was dealing with two Writ Petitions filed by minors through Udhyan Ghar Boys Home and Village Cottage Home respectively, who had lost their parents and it was stated that the properties belonging to their parents are being frittered away.
A Single Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad remarked, “The case of children who are helpless victims of circumstances must be dealt with compassion and a sympathetic attitude and approach must be adopted by the Courts. Courts are zealous guardians for the protection of the properties of minors and efforts must be made to ensure that the properties are immediately secured so that they are not frittered by unscrupulous relatives who like vultures want to prey on the meagre belongings that have been left behind for them on which only they have the rights.”
Advocate Tara Narula appeared for the Petitioners while ASC Mehak Nakra appeared for the Respondents. Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan was appointed as the Amicus Curiae.
Case Background
In the first case, the Petitioners (minors) came back from the market along with their mother. It was stated that one of the minors went to the kitchen to drink some water and while he was drinking it, his father, who was fully intoxicated, barged into the house with a knife in his hand, and suddenly stabbed him on his forearm. It was further stated that upon hearing his scream, the other minor and his mother rushed to the kitchen. Allegedly, the father lunged towards the mother and stabbed her in the stomach with a knife. The Petitioners ran out of the house, the mother died, and the father committed suicide thereafter. Both the Petitioners were placed in Udhyan Ghar Boys Home by the Order of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). It was also stated that the paternal uncle and aunts of the Petitioners wanted to meet them and after meeting, they resisted and refused to be re-united with their family as they believed that their relatives had made no efforts whatsoever to resolve the differences between their parents or helped them during the traumatic incident. Hence, they approached the High Court for a direction to the Respondents to secure information relating to the movable and immovable assets of the deceased parents.
Similarly, in another case, the father of the Petitioners used to allegedly beat them mercilessly under the influence of alcohol. It was stated that he did not provide food to them, leading to their physical and emotional abuse. One day, when their father was beating them, one of the cousins called the PCR and made a Complaint. When the police reached the spot, it found that the father was beating the Petitioners under the influence of alcohol and blood was coming out from the right eyebrow of one of the Petitioners. Subsequently, after around 2 years of the incident, the father of the Petitioners passed away and their mother left the family a few years ago and was not interested in their welfare. As per the report of the Welfare Officer, the Petitioners’ home was an ancestral property which was already divided among their deceased father and his brothers. Hence, they also approached the High Court for appropriate directions.
Court’s Directions
The High Court in the above regard, directed, “The guidelines as framed by the CWC have been considered. The State is directed to frame the guidelines to be followed by the concerned authorities.”
The Court, therefore, issued the following directions to the Courts considering the Applications for guardianship and for protection of the properties of the children –
a. The Application filed by the District Magistrate for guardianship over a minor child's property should be placed before the Family Court which is already dealing with the application of guardianship of the child to avoid conflicting directions and speedy disposal of application.
b. Interim Orders necessary to protect the property of the child be passed expeditiously, preferably within a period of four weeks from the date of application filed in compliance of Section 12 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 (GAW Act).
c. The concerned Family Courts should adopt a child centric approach. A separate counsel on behalf of the child be appointed to ensure that the views of the child are duly considered.
d. The Family Court must keep the case pending till the child attains the age of majority. The guardian should be asked to submit yearly accounts to the concerned Family Court and the Family Court should also oversee the accounts and statements as filed by the guardian.
e. In case the child is eligible for adoption in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (JJ Act) and the Adoption Regulation 2022, the pendency of an Application for protecting the child's property may not be in any way be allowed to hinder the process of adoption.
f. Where there are two or more siblings, the State would protect the interest of the minor sibling(s) and defend and institute any and all claims, suits on their behalf. In cases where there are legal heirs other than the orphaned child, the District Magistrate shall duly protect the interest of the child(ren) by contesting and instituting such proceedings as may be applicable under the applicable guardianship laws, personal laws, and civil procedure.
The Court further directed to ensure that the directions are scrupulously followed and ordered the Registry to circulate its Judgment to all the concerned Courts.
Accordingly, the High Court disposed of the Petitions and issued necessary directions.
Cause Title- Master G through Legal Guardian & Anr. v. State (NCT of Delhi), Home Department & Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2025:DHC:2349)
Appearance:
Petitioners: Advocates Tara Narula, Harshvardhan Jain, Priya Sahil, Ankita Talukdar, Shivangi Sharma, Anirudh, and Priya Watwani.
Respondents: ASC Mehak Nakra, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan, Advocates Aditi Kapoor, Devansh Solanki, Karan Dalal, Sanjeevi Seshadri, Sukrtit Sethi, Shreedhar Kale, Manan Agarwal, and Hemant Gupta.
