Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 21: District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Jammu hosted a significant consultative workshop focused on “Issues Relating to Child Custody in Contested Cases.”
The event brought together panel lawyers, para-legal volunteers and key stakeholders to deliberate on sensitive aspects of child custody disputes. The workshop commenced with introductory address by Smriti Sharma, Secretary, DLSA Jammu, who outlined the broad aims and objectives of the session, setting the stage for a day of insightful discussion. She also introduced the resource person for the workshop.
Dr Nitan Sharma, Assistant Professor, The Law School, University of Jammu, led the keynote session. His comprehensive presentation covered the NALSA (Child Friendly Legal Services for Children) Scheme 2024, Mission Vatsalya, and the provisions related to child custody under various personal laws and child welfare legislations. A key highlight of his address was the emphasis on the evolving jurisprudence in India, shifting from traditional concepts of physical and legal custody towards the modern approach of shared parenting.
Savita Sharma and Sakshi Bala, Members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Jammu, provided valuable insights into the Committee’s pivotal role. They elaborated on the CWC’s functions in counselling children caught in matrimonial disputes and liasioning with various agencies to mitigate the trauma experienced by them.
A dynamic interactive session followed, where panel lawyers and para-legal volunteers shared ground-level experiences and challenges. Advocate Mayank Gupta, a panel lawyer with DLSA, shared live experiences from cases involving contested child custody, particularly highlighting the compounded complexities when such custody issues are intertwined with maintenance claims.
In her concluding observations, Secretary DLSA emphasized the indispensable need for collaboration among all stakeholders. She urged the panel lawyers and para-legal volunteers to proactively maintain linkages with the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), law enforcement agencies, psychologists, special educators, and educational institutions to ensure a holistic and sensitive approach to every case.
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