Q: Describe about the contumacy of an order of visitation rights ?

 Ans: Contumacy of an order

Once an order for custody or visitation/access is passed, the parent, in whose favour an order for visitation/access is passed, is often faced with an even bigger dilemma. This is regarding enforcement of the order of visitation/access. If such an order is passed with consent of the custodial parent, a tendency of compliance is usually observed; however, if the order is passed by the Court after a contest by the custodial parent, the non-custodial parent often faces the consequences of frequent violations of the order by the custodial parent. This leads to practical difficulties for the non-custodial parents since:

(a) Firstly, it is difficult to prove violation of visitation/access order during an enforcement or execution proceeding;

(b) Secondly, the concerned non-custodial parent cannot now and then approach Courts upon frequent violations of order of visitation/access:

(c) Thirdly and most importantly, there is no specific provision related to enforcement of visitation order in any of the above mentioned three Acts. None of the acts prescribes penalty for violation of such order.

The Courts, therefore, make attempts to enforce such orders as per the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or by resorting to the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. Though the Family Courts are equipped with powers to lay down their own procedure to meet the ends of justice, the usual trend, however, is that the Courts refrain from adopting methods such as imposing of cost on the defaulting party, or compelling the defaulting party to provide a security or bond forfeitable by the Court upon violation of order. While the question of execution of custody orders is an important subject, the same has not been dealt with elaborately in this book so as to avoid digression and in the interest of brevity.

However, one should be mindful of the fact that for orders of temporary custody that are either passed under section 12 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 or orders that are passed under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the law prescribes penal consequences for violation of such interim orders, and though it may not said to be a way of execution of orders, it can certainly be said to be an effective way of compelling a defaulting party to obey orders.

Keywords used: 

Contumacy: सरकशी, stubborn refusal to obey or comply with authority, especially disobedience to a court order or summons.

Dilemma: a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially ones that are equally undesirable.

Compliance : the action or fact of complying with a wish or command.

comply with: का अनुपालन करें

compliance: अनुपालन

Contest: प्रतियोगिता

Resort: सहारा लेना

x

x