The Madras High Court has observed that marriage is not just for satisfying carnal pleasure but its main purpose is progeneration.

"…this Court would like to stress and impress upon the persons, who have tied the marital knot that the concept of marriage is not for mere satisfying the carnal pleasure, but it is mainly for the purpose of progeneration, which leads to the extension of the familial chain.", the bench of Justice Krishnan Ramasamy observed.

The Court made this observation while dealing with a case involving a matrimonial dispute.

The Court observed that the applicant/wife and respondent/husband, after their marriage, were blessed with two children. Thereafter, when the applicant/wife tried to start her professional career as a lawyer after completion of her Law degree, disputes arose between them since the respondent/husband has not shown any interest and encouraged the applicant/wife, but insisted her to be in home and look after the children.

The respondent/husband, due to differences of opinion, was alleged to have sent out the applicant/wife from the matrimonial home by retaining the custody of the children and since then, both of them started living separately.

Thereafter, the applicant/wife approached the Family Court and the High Court by filing various applications and petitions, seeking for divorce, custody of the children, visitation rights, etc.

The Court observed that "The respondent/father who possesses the custody of the minor children with him, must understand and feel the same pain and suffering undergoing by the applicant/mother, who all along lost the company of her children. It is not fair on the part of the respondent in not accommodating the children to spend with their mother and allowing the mother to spend with her children despite the orders of this Court granting visitation rights to the applicant/mother."

The Court noted that "…prima facie it appears that the respondent poisons the minors' minds against the mother and acted against the welfare of the minors. Tutoring of the children by the respondent to keep them in his custody will result in nurturing hatred towards their mother, which will certainly affect the welfare of the children."

Therefore the Court held that the children should not be permitted to stay with their father anymore, who indulges in parental alienation, inculcates fear and apprehension in the minds of minors, against his mother and thwarts Court orders with impunity.

The Court directed the respondent/father to hand over interim custody of the minor children to the applicant/mother within a period of one week.

Cause Title- A. Nos.335 & 703 of 2021

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