In Brief
This case involved a custody dispute between separated parents over their 15-year-old daughter Vaishali after a habeas corpus petition. The High Court had ordered custody to the mother, but the child was already with her father. The Supreme Court allowed the father's appeal, holding that a mature 15-year-old capable of understanding her best interests should remain with her father, especially after court-supervised visits with her mother failed to alter her clear preference. The Court emphasized that the child's welfare—determined objectively from specific facts and her own mature wishes—outweighed abstract principles, and that within three years she would become an adult with full freedom to choose.
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