After four years, a father will finally get access to his child who has been in the custody of his estranged wife. The family court has resolved the issue of autorickshaw fare which was cited as a reason by the mother for not taking the child to her father. The father was unwilling to pay Rs500 as autorickshaw fare demanded by the mother to bring the child to the court premises. The family court has directed the father to pay Rs200 as autorickshaw fare.

According to the plea filed by the father, he was given access rights to his child on every first and third Saturday of the month by an order passed in 2008. However, the mother was not executing it demanding the autorickshaw fare. The husband refused to give in to the demand stating that she could easily bring the child to Bandra family court by train since she did take her for treatment to Charni Road by train from Borivli.

The husband had, however, agreed to pay to-and- fro autorickshaw charges from Bandra railway station to the family court premises. The court, after going through the previous orders and arguments, observed that “the right or privilege of the non-custodian parent to meet the child cannot be denied. In fact, it is in the interest of the child that the non-custodian parent, in this case the father, can give his love and affection and care to the child who is deprived of the same for so many years.”

The court directed the mother to grant the father access to the child on every first and third Saturday of the month and directed the husband to give Rs200 to the wife as autorickshaw fare.

The court also noted that the order should be followed scrupulously till the final hearing and disposal of the main petition.