The Kerala High Court has instructed family courts in the State to consider matters related to interim custody of children and maintenance as matters of “extreme urgency” during the COVID-19 preparedness period.
Barring the cases related to children, all other matters considered by the family courts will be adjourned to dates after March 31.
The Hindu had on Friday reported the plight of parents who were engaged in legal battles over custody and visitation rights of their children in family courts after the courts postponed such cases.
Many parents were in deep despair after family courts across the State postponed such cases to dates after March 31 in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
An order prioritising the maintenance and interim custody of children was issued by K. Haripal, Registrar General of the Kerala High Court, on Friday.
Visitation rights
Incidentally, it is during the summer vacation, which starts in March, and during Christmas vacation that the most number of applications seeking visitation and guardian rights of children are moved by parents.
In most of the cases related to visitation rights, the parents are forced to spend the allotted hours of visitation with their kids in court complexes. As the courts cut down their activities in the wake of the pandemic, such avenues were denied to parents and children.
The Registrar General has also instructed the civil courts to postpone the trial of all cases and execution petitions to dates after March 31 and to take up only urgent applications such as injunction matters.
