Some of my friends who read my journey to court wanted me to write some anecdotes of my long career as a lawyer. I did not know which one to select but I felt perhaps this one may interest all.
All of us have heard the Fables of King Solomon. Most of my readers must be familiar with the stories of King Solomon. He was the last king of unified Israel. He succeeded his father David. He built the first temple in Jerusalem. He was “ blessed by God not only with knowledge and wisdom but also with riches, wealth and honour.” His stories of wisdom are told in the Holy Bible. His most famous story is about the way he settled a dispute between two women who lived in the same house, each one being the mother of one child. One of the child had been smothered to death and on its death, both of them claimed remaining as her own. This dispute was resolved by the King by his wisdom without harming the child or its future. In fact, I came across similar stories in India too. But they did not become as famous as the one of King Solomon. My anecdote has no connection with that story though one might try to compare the facts of this case with that story.
Now let me tell the story of my case. There was a couple who lived with their one year old child. I am referring to a case of 1970s. They belonged to a lower middle class family. There was some misunderstanding which led to their separation. They started living separately. The child was with the mother. It was a male child. One day when the child was playing in the courtyard of its house, the father came in a rikshaw and lifted the child and sped away in the rikshaw. Mother did not know what to do. She came running to my colleague Advocate who was practicing mainly on the criminal side of the law and sought legal advice. Though he knew the futility of giving a police complaint as the child was taken though forcibly by the father which act could not be termed as criminal, still he lodged a police complaint and the police tried to intervene but the father was adamant and refused to part with the child.
The said Advocate being my close friend consulted me as to what steps he could take to get custody of the child on the civil side. Then after due deliberation, we decided to file an application under Guardianship & Wards Act seeking custody of the child by getting the mother appointed as its guardian. Such cases had to be filed in the District Court. The District Judge at that time was a veteran Kannada writer who later on even became the President of Kannada Sahitya Parishad. He had written several books on various subjects. I am mentioning this to show that he was a man of vast knowledge and wisdom. When such learned persons adorn the seat of justice, they come out with unique ideas which make the judgments rendered by such persons interesting, full of wisdom and unassailable.
The case filed on behalf of the mother of the child came up before the said judge and the judge heard the Advocates of both sides. Taking into consideration the age and gender of the child, judge tried to persuade the father of the child to hand over it to the mother. But it was in vein. In these matters, when the case is of an infant, the mother of the child always gets preference as against the claim of the father. When it is a girl child, till she attains the age of 14 years, it is always the mother who is given the custody by taking into consideration the welfare of the child, unless there are serious allegations against her character. However, it is always said that while courts giving custody of the child or appointing a guardian for the child, the courts should consider the wishes of the child, if the child could express it. But in this case it was impossible as the child was hardly one year old. It could not stand or walk or even mumble anything. The Judge after hearing both the sides said that he would like to see the child to form an opinion of its welfare.
Accordingly the judge fixed a date to present the child before the court. On the date fixed, while bringing the child to the court, the father also brought his own sister to show to the court that he had a woman member in his house to take care of the child. He did not come into the court hall until the judge took his seat in the bench. As soon as the judge occupied his seat, the father of the child made his entry with the child and the sister. The mother was sitting at a distance and the father was blocking the child’s view from the mother. The Judge asked both of them to come near the bench. He again tried to reason with the father who did not change his stand.
Then suddenly the judge said let us find out the wish of the child. He adopted a novel method. He asked the Court attendant to keep a big wide table in the middle of the court hall and asked the parents to stand on either side of the table at a distance of about 20 feet from the child. He asked the father to place the child on the table. The idea was to see which of the two, the child liked or loved most. He first asked the father to call the child and the father called the child several times by extending his hands. He even showed some chocolates etc. to attract its attention. But the child was not looking at him at all. It was just staring at its mother. I think perhaps it was shocked to see its mother there. One should not forget the child had not seen the mother since the day it was taken away from its mother. Already a month had elapsed. The court gave him almost 5 minutes to get the attention of the child. It did not even look at him. Its eyes were fixed on the mother. Then the Judge said that now it was the turn of the mother. The judge asked her to go ahead. The mother did not do anything except calling the child by name and extending her hands to come to her. Believe me, the child almost jumped out from the table. Judge shouted at the Court clerk and the Attendant and asked them to hold back the child. Immediately the judge exclaimed in Kannada language “ mooka magu mataditu” means “Dumb child spoke”
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