Guardian judge Gautam Manan allowed the woman to keep her daughter with herself, dismissing her husband's contention that the minor needs her father and grand parents who are very affectionate towards her.
"Despite the fact that her paternal grandparents were allowed to meet the minor once in a month, they never came to Delhi to meet her," said the court dismissing his plea.
"In the present case, the minor child is in constant care and protection of her mother and it is in evidence that her mother is taking care of her health, education and intellectual development.
"Minor has also made a preference that she would prefer to be with her mother with whom she is residing happily," the court added.
The court's order came on plea by a 39-year-old South Delhi woman, seeking permanent custody of her daughter. In her plea, she had said she was married in 1991 and was blessed with a daughter in 1996 but she had to leave her matrimonial home with her daughter due to harassment and torture by her husband.
She said her husband, who had studied computers in the US and had a distribution business of its peripherals in India, was never a good father either and often beat up their minor daughter when she lived with him.
More From This Section
The court allowed the woman's plea saying that during an interaction with the minor, she had stated that she does not wish to meet her father because her father never cared for her and never even tried to meet her during last seven years.
"The minor disclosed that she has an impression that her father is a cruel man and she has witnessed some incidents where her father gave beatings to the petitioner," the court noted.