KOCHI: In the petitions filed by parents in Kozhikode family court seeking the release of the child, High Court ordered the appointment of an independent lawyer for the child. A division bench comprising of Justice A. Muhammad Mushtaq and Justice Sophie Thomas directed the Kozhikode District Legal Service Authority. This is the first such order in the judicial history of Kerala. Kozhikode family court was also directed to dispose of the petitions within three months.
Parents are natives of Malappuram. The father filed a petition in family court to get custody of the eight-and-a-half-year-old child, but no follow-up action was taken afterwards. Later the mother filed a petition to get custody of the child. The family court heard the case and ordered that the child be left with the father. High Court considered the issue of whether the family court can leave the child with the father who is not responsible enough to take further action on the petition.

The POCSO case existing against the mother's parents was also discussed in the division bench. Adv Parvathy Menon, project coordinator at the Victim Rights Center, a part of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority, suggested that a lawyer should be appointed to protect the child's interest in this matter. Often, in such disputes, the lawyer who speaks for the side that gets the child's support is also the one who speaks for the child's case in court. This is not necessarily in the best interest of the child. Parvathy Menon stated that there are systems existing in countries like Canada and Australia for appointing a lawyer for the child. Adv Parvathi had earlier put forward the idea of ​​a scheme of appointing independent advocates for children, in another case, taking into account all these facts. The Division Bench decided to implement that directive in this case.