By Dr Swati Jindal Garg
In the corridors of justice, few issues are as emotionally charged—or as consequential—as disputes over child custody and parental access. When allegations of abuse emerge, or when questions arise regarding a child’s psychological well-being, courts find themselves navigating one of the most delicate terrains in law. The challenge is immense: how does one balance the legal rights of parents with the emotional needs and long-term welfare of a child?
A significant answer has now emerged from the Supreme Court.
In Sheetal Vasant Thakur vs Chirag Arora (SLP(C) No 18701-18702/2024), a bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh, articulated a set of broad principles governing requests for psychological and psychiatric evaluations of children in custody disputes. At the heart of the ruling lies a powerful idea: courts must adopt a principle of “minimum intrusion” and remain acutely sensitive to the possibility of re-traumatizing vulnerable children.
The judgment represents an important milestone in India’s evolving child welfare jurisprudence. More than a procedural guideline, it offers a humane framework that seeks to balance the welfare of the child with a parent’s natural desire for love, affection, and meaningful access to their offspring.
A CHILD AT THE CENTRE OF A LEGAL STORM
The dispute before the Court was far from routine. It involved a child who was also an alleged victim of sexual abuse—circumstances that elevated the stakes far beyond an ordinary custody battle.
In such situations, every judicial decision carries profound consequences. Questions of custody and visitation become intertwined with concerns about the child’s psychological safety, dignity, emotional security, and long-term development. The child often finds himself caught between competing claims, conflicting narratives, and the emotional turbulence of fractured family relationships. In many cases, grandparents and extended family members also enter the fray, adding further complexity to already painful proceedings.
Recognizing these realities, the Supreme Court emphasized that psychological evaluation can never be treated as a routine procedural step. Any such intervention must be guided by sensitivity, proportionality, and an unwavering commitment to the child’s best interests.
THE PRINCIPLES THAT WILL GUIDE FUTURE COURTS
Rather than prescribing rigid rules, the Court outlined broad principles intended to guide judicial discretion in complex family disputes.
The first and perhaps most significant is the principle of minimum intrusion. Courts must ensure that psychological or psychiatric evaluations are ordered only when genuinely necessary. A child’s privacy, emotional stability, and daily life should not be disrupted unless the assessment is indispensable to resolving the dispute.
Equally important is the Court’s recognition of the risk of re-traumatization. Repeated interviews, psychological testing, and exposure to evaluative processes can reopen emotional wounds, particularly in cases involving abuse. Judges must, therefore, remain conscious of the potential harm that even well-intentioned procedures may cause.
The Court also stressed that psychological inquiry should not be limited solely to the child. Custody disputes unfold within a broader family environment, and the mental health of parents is often a critical factor in determining what arrangement best serves the child’s welfare.
In a particularly significant observation, the Court acknowledged that parental psychological assessments can provide valuable insights into custody, visitation, and access decisions. A parent’s unresolved trauma, untreated mental health condition, or behavioural difficulties may directly affect the child’s emotional development and overall well-being.
At the same time, the Court cautioned against treating these principles as inflexible mandates. Every custody dispute presents unique circumstances, and judicial discretion must remain central to the decision-making process. In matters involving children, there can never be a “one-size-fits-all” solution.
THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE JUDGMENT
Underlying the Court’s reasoning is the enduring doctrine of parens patriae—the principle that the State, acting through its courts, assumes the role of protector when the welfare of children is at stake.
This doctrine requires judges to look beyond competing parental claims and focus instead on a single paramount consideration: the best interests of the child.
The Court’s emphasis on minimum intrusion reflects a growing recognition that children are not merely subjects of litigation. They are individuals with independent rights, vulnerabilities, and dignity. The judgment also resonates with international child rights standards, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which emphasizes protecting children from unnecessary trauma during legal proceedings.
WHY PARENTAL MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS
One of the most forward-looking aspects of the ruling is its recognition of the role parental mental health plays in shaping a child’s future.
Custody disputes frequently descend into allegations and counter-allegations, with each parent attempting to establish the other’s unfitness. In the heat of litigation, parents sometimes lose sight of a fundamental reality: prolonged conflict itself can inflict deep and lasting emotional harm on the child.
By encouraging courts to examine parental psychological well-being, the Supreme Court shifts the focus from adversarial accusations to objective assessment.
A parent struggling with untreated depression may unintentionally create an unstable environment. A parent carrying unresolved trauma may project fears and anxieties onto the child. Conversely, a parent who has sought treatment, achieved emotional stability, and developed healthy coping mechanisms may be better positioned to provide a nurturing and supportive home.
In this sense, parental mental health assessments become a window into the broader ecosystem within which a child will grow, learn, and develop.
A TRANSFORMATIVE MOMENT FOR CUSTODY JURISPRUDENCE
The implications of this ruling are likely to be far-reaching. Courts across India will now be expected to exercise greater caution before ordering psychological evaluations, ensuring that such directions remain exceptional rather than routine.
Mental health professionals—including psychologists, psychiatrists, and child welfare experts—are likely to play an increasingly nuanced role in custody proceedings. Their assessments will not merely inform judicial decisions; they may significantly shape outcomes relating to custody, visitation, and parental access.
More broadly, the judgment reinforces a continuing shift away from parent-centric litigation and towards genuinely child-centric adjudication. The child’s welfare becomes the lodestar by which every competing claim must be measured.
The ruling may also help prevent misuse of psychological evaluations as tactical tools in custody battles, thereby reducing unnecessary emotional burdens on children already struggling with family conflict.
LEARNING FROM GLOBAL PRACTICE
The challenges confronting Indian courts are not unique. Family courts around the world wrestle with similar dilemmas.
In the United States, custody evaluators routinely assess both parents and children before making recommendations to courts. In the United Kingdom, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) plays a central role in assisting judges on matters affecting child welfare.
The Supreme Court’s approach aligns with these international trends, but introduces an important safeguard: psychological assessments must remain minimally intrusive and sensitive to trauma. This emphasis on preserving the psychological dignity of the child gives the Indian framework a distinctive and deeply humane character.
BEYOND LAW: THE HUMAN STORY
Ultimately, no legal doctrine can fully capture the emotional complexity of family breakdown.
Custody disputes are rarely about legal rights alone. They are about fractured relationships, broken trust, parental fears, and children struggling to make sense of circumstances beyond their control.
The Supreme Court’s observations serve as a reminder that justice in family law requires more than the mechanical application of legal principles. Judges must listen not only to testimony and evidence, but also to the silences between them—the fears, anxieties, and vulnerabilities that children often struggle to articulate.
In matters affecting children, the goal should never be merely to resolve conflict. It should be to minimize harm and promote healing.
TOWARDS A MORE CHILD-CENTRIC FUTURE
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Sheetal Vasant Thakur vs Chirag Arora marks an important step in the evolution of child custody jurisprudence in India. By emphasizing minimum intrusion, sensitivity to trauma, and the relevance of parental mental health, the Court has laid the foundation for a more compassionate and child-centred approach to family disputes.
The message emerging from the judgment is both simple and profound.
Children are not trophies to be won, bargaining chips to be negotiated, or pawns in parental battles. They are individuals with rights, dignity, emotions, and dreams.
The law’s highest duty is not merely to decide where a child will live. It is to ensure that, in the pursuit of justice, childhood itself remains protected.
—The author is an Advocate-on-Record practising in the Supreme Court,
Delhi High Court and all district courts and tribunals in Delhi
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