‘R’ v. ‘E’ & Anr., 2026 INSC 1049
A bitter child custody dispute where a mother filed a false criminal complaint under the POCSO Act accusing the father of sexual assault to gain a strategic advantage. After a thorough CBI investigation and expert psychological evaluation proved the allegations were fabricated, the Court quashed the criminal proceedings, awarded custody of the child to the father based on her best interests, and established a key legal ratio: in matrimonial disputes where child sexual abuse laws are weaponized, authorities and courts must involve child psychiatry or psychology experts before making arrests or issuing summons to prevent the grave misuse of legal provisions and protect innocent parents from irreparable harm.
The couple married in 2011 and had a daughter in 2015, but severe marital discord led the mother to leave the matrimonial home with the child in 2018. This triggered a prolonged legal battle over child custody and divorce, with multiple cross-complaints and criminal cases filed by both parties, culminating in the father successfully securing a custody order in his favor.
While that custody order was being litigated and reviewed, the mother lodged a severe criminal complaint under the POCSO Act accusing the father and his family members of sexually assaulting the minor child. The Supreme Court directed a comprehensive investigation by the CBI and a specialized NIMHANS medical panel, which conclusively proved through forensic analysis, CCTV footage, and psychological evaluations that the allegations were completely false and fabricated as a tactic to block the father’s custody rights.
The Supreme Court held that the criminal case under the POCSO Act against the father was a false and malicious weapon used by the mother to override legal custody orders. Consequently, the Court quashed the FIR, restored the child’s legal and physical custody to the father, and laid down mandatory guidelines requiring expert psychiatric evaluations before making arrests or issuing summons in child abuse cases arising from bitter matrimonial disputes.
The Supreme Court arrived at this conclusion because a rigorous, independent investigation and a comprehensive 79-page evaluation by a specialized CBI and NIMHANS medical committee conclusively proved that the child sexual abuse allegations were entirely false. The Court found that the child showed no signs of trauma or distress, forensic analysis of home CCTV footage completely contradicted the timeline of the alleged assaults, and the accusations were merely a malicious arm-twisting tactic fabricated by the mother solely to nullify the father’s lawful custody rights.
