MODULE: DRAFTING, PLEADING AND CONVEYANCE

MODULE LEADER: DR. VRUSHTI PATEL

APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN

SUBMITTED BY: AYUSHI BODE

ENROL NO.: 312018031

BBA-LLB 2018-23
 IN THE COURT OF 4TH ADDITIONAL FAMILY JUDGE

AT FAMILY COURT SURAT

Mr. Dinkar Shah

Father of Late Mrs. Rina Chopra

Aged: 60 years

Occupation: Housewife

R/o A-201 Celetial Dreams, Vesu, Surat 395 007 …………………………

VS

Mr. Neeraj Chopra

Husband of Late Mrs Rina Chopra

Aged: 45 years

Occupation: Job as

R/o A-205 Century Apartment, Ahmedabad ………………………

APPLICATION U/S 13 OF THE HINDU MINORITY AND GUARDIANSHIP ACT,

THE APPLICANT MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:

1. That the above-named applicant is the father of Late Mrs. Rina Chopra, who is deceased
wife of the respondent.
2. That late Mrs. Chopra resided in Surat before her marriage with the respondent, with her
parents and the respondent resided in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
3. That late Mrs. Chopra was married with the respondent on 28th April 2016 and out of the
said wedlock one daughter namely Priya aged about 4 years was and one son namely
Priyank aged about 2 years were born in the year 2018 and 2020 respectively.
4. That immediately after the said marriage in the year 2016, late Mrs. Chopra moved to the
respondent’ house in Amritsar, Punjab to start her married life.
5. That just after few months marriage, the respondent and his family started illtreating Late
Mrs. Chopra. They burdened her with household work along with placing restrictions and
not even letting her to walk a step out of the house. She believed that it would change
with the course of time however, the harassment continued.
6. Late Mrs. Chopra started her family thinking that responsibility would make the
respondent realise his mistake and he would be more caring and harmless towards her.
However, to her utter shock, the respondent included himself in habits of drinking,
smoking and gambling.
7. He soon started coming home late, without fulfilling any responsibility of his children.
Being in a drunk state the respondent often tortured her wife. Late Mrs. Chopra, in a
silent state suffered all to make sure that because of her decisions her children did not
suffer.
8. That the respondent, surrounded by all his bad habits, soon started picking up fights with
his children. He started beating his children and withdrew himself from the support of
Late Mrs. Chopra and his children.
9. That Late Mrs. Chopra left the house of respondent in June 2021 and started residing
with the applicant, at his home in Surat.
10. That a case was filed by the deceased wife against the husband under the provisions of
Domestic Violence Act, bearing title Cr Case No. __/2021 and also filed a divorce
petition bearing title Family Case No. __/2021, both under the jurisdiction of Surat
Court.
11. That soon after filling of both the cases, Late Mrs. Chopra succumbed to cancer on 20th
November 2021.
12. That owing to circumstances mentioned herein, the applicant prays before the hon’ble
court to not grant the custody to the respondent but to them keeping in mind the welfare
of the child, which is of paramount consideration under section 13 of Guardians & Wards
Act.
13. That although section 6 of Hindu Minority and Guardian Act says that the natural
guardian of a child is his father and then his mother, the courts have power to not grant
custody to them when the welfare of the child is itself in question.
14. In this case, the respondent is not ready to take care of the child. He is the sole earning
bread in his family and his parents are also not earning. He is neither a good earner and a
good father to take care of all the basic and essential needs and requirements of his child
15. That the applicant is living along with his wife and is earning a salary of 60,000 per
month which is sufficient to cover their expense as well as to take care of both the
children of respondent.
16. That the respondent has already withdrawn from providing support to his children at
many instances like not paying their school & tuition fees, not spending time with them,
publicly scolding them, beating them at their home. The applicant fear that if the custody
is given to the respondent, the children will have to suffer a lifetime of trauma which will
affect their mental state
17. That the atmosphere of family of the applicant is better than the family of the respondent
and the applicant has good reputation in the society. The applicant is fully competent
person who can provide the proper higher education, can properly take care and look
after both the children, manage to provide good atmosphere and to provide the good
atmosphere to their minor children.
18. Section 13 of Guardians & Wards Act clearly states that welfare of the child should be of
paramount consideration while deciding any case under the Act. This section places
inherent power on the court to not follow any provision of the acts relating to custody of
child if the same is not in the welfare of the child.
19. That in these circumstances the custody of the children is liable to be given to the
applicant who is the maternal grandfather of both the minor children.
20. That SC in Nil Ratan Kundu & Anr vs Abhijit Kundu gave the custody to the maternal
grandparents of the child though the father was alive. That SC in Surinder Kaur Sandhu
vs Harbax Singh Sandhu clearly stated that
21. “Section 6 of the Hindu Minority & Guardianship Act constitutes the father as natural
guardian of a minor son. But the provision cannot supersede the paramount consideration
as to what is conducive to the welfare of the minor.”
 PRAYER

It is therefore, prayed that the application of the applicant may kindly be accepted and the
respondent may kindly be directed to handover both the minors children namely Priya and
Priyank to the applicant in the interest of justice.

Dated: 27th November 2022

APPLICANT

____S/o ____R/o ____

Through counsel

Ayushi Bode, Advocate, Gujarat High Court