Rajasthan High Court orders its Registry, Family Courts to mask identities of parties in matrimonial disputes

The Rajasthan High Court recently ordered its registry and the Family Courts in the State to ensure that identities of the parties in matrimonial disputes are not disclosed. .Justice Arun Monga flagged privacy concerns in such matters and ordered its registry to mask the names of the parties on the website as well as the mobile app.The Court was hearing a petition of a couple involved in a child custody dispute. In the future, the bench said the High Court registry and the Family Courts need to be cautious and ensure that they must respect the privacy of the parties in matrimonial disputes by ensuring that their names are shown as XX vs YY.“The Registry is directed to issue an appropriate circular to the Family Courts to strictly carry out compliance thereof,” the Court ordered..The direction was issued in the case of a father (a practicing lawyer) who challenged the Family Court’s order of summoning his two sons to the court for taking a decision on his wife’s application seeking visitation rights to meet the two children. The High Court noted that repeated failures of mediation in the case suggested the deep-seated nature of the conflicts between the parents. It added that the resolution of the case would take quite some time.Highlighting the role of both parents in a child’s upbringing, the Court remarked that an endeavour must always be made to provide the child with the benefit of two happy homes, if a single happy home with both parents is not possible..Looking at the record, the Court noticed the father’s “strategy of prolonging the litigation” and said it seemed to be aimed at “exploiting the children’s present hostility” towards their mother. In this context, the Court opined that the possibility of the children being coached or tutored for ensuring they support their father's stance, cannot be disregarded. The children had told the court they don’t want to meet their mother.“The sons are clearly oblivious to the realty that becoming a mother is undoubtedly the hardest thing to do, given the pain and labour it takes to produce a child. Emotionally, albeit it is greatest thing to happen to a woman, to create life from her own flesh and blood,” the Court said..In this backdrop, it opined that an attempt must be made to educate the children about the role and importance of both the parents in this life. “The emotional complexity of the situation warrants need for professional intervention to understand and address the children's feelings and concerns and to create a structured and monitored environment for them,” the Court said.It accordingly directed the father to take his sons to a psychologist at AIIMS Jodhpur on Saturday of every weekend for counseling for one hour. The Court directed the psychologist to submit a report to the Family Court after six sittings and continue holding the sittings during pendency of the child custody case. .It also noted that the wife in the case had undergone numerous rounds of litigation due to her husband filing various applications. Thus, it directed him to pay a litigation cost of ₹2 lakh to his wife and ordered that non-payment of the same shall be taken as deemed dismissal of his pending custody petition before the Family Court. It further ordered his defence shall be struck off in the mother’s custody petition in case he fails to pay. .Advocate Shobha Gupta represented the petitionerAdvocate Salman Agha represented the respondent