Lawfully yours: By Retired Justice K Chandru
Your legal questions answered by Justice K Chandru, former Judge of the Madras High Court Do you have a question? Email us atcitizen.dtnext@dt.co.in
Law has no gender bias, but mother gets child’s custody during tender years
This is about a wife engaged in immoral behaviours such as cybercrime, stealing, and psychological and verbal abuse. All of this, just to get money from her husband. In essence, their marriage is a ruse to obtain his money. Her family members are also involved in the ruse. When the husband filed an FIR against the woman and her family, no officers would act since they had been bribed. Despite knowing the facts, the police decided not to take any action citing it as a family affair. The husband has filed for divorce.
a) Why does the system favour women? A pregnant woman can commit a crime as well. Shouldn’t we stay focused on the crime, regardless of who committed it? Doesn’t the police’s inaction enable criminals to commit more crimes?
b) Is there a quick method by which a husband can obtain permanent child custody?— Mubeen Abdul Salam, Chennai
It is not as if the system favours only women. The laws evolved over a period of time, taking note of the experience gained. Hard cases do not make the law bad. Now that you have filed a divorce case, pursue it. Regarding permanent custody of child, in the first few years, due to tender age, the custody will be given only to the mother. Thereafter the court will decide what is best in the interest of the child and not in the litigant’s favour as a matter of right. But whoever is given the custody of child, the other party will have a visiting right.
It is not as if the system favours only women. The laws evolved over a period of time, taking note of the experience gained. Hard cases do not make the law bad. Now that you have filed a divorce case, pursue it. Regarding permanent custody of child, in the first few years, due to tender age, the custody will be given only to the mother. Thereafter the court will decide what is best in the interest of the child and not in the litigant’s favour as a matter of right. But whoever is given the custody of child, the other party will have a visiting right.
RWAs can collect higher maintenance charges from commercial establishments
Four to five commercial business houses are operating from a five-storey building consisting of 25 residential flats. They have one Metro Water connection with two separate sumps, one for residents and the other for commercial use. They also have separate overhead tanks. Water consumption would be more on the commercial side, as each floor commercial establishment has a minimum of 25 people per floor, totalling over 100 persons. This building is constructed after the demolition of an old building. Hence, only one Metro Water connection was given. How can we measure and restrict each floor’s commercial use of Metro Water? a) The commercial units are owned by 3-4 siblings and they get one Metro Water bill. b) In the residential flats, each flat has only an average of 2/3 persons and each flat owner is paying Metro Water tax separately.
-- VS Narayanaswamy, Chennai
The only solution is to install a water meter. Metro Water gives connections based on ownership and not based on the size of the family. If you have a resident welfare association (RWA), you can collect higher maintenance charges as they are commercial units or per square feet pro-rata charges. There is nothing else you can do.
