MUMBAI, Sept. 6 -- The Bombay High Court on Thursday held that sharing a strong emotional bond or attachment with a child did not confer a superior right on any person to claim custody of the child over that of its biological parent. A division bench of justices Ravindra V Ghuge and Gautam A Ankhad directed the police authorities to secure a young boy's custody from his grandparents and hand him over to his parents within two weeks. The child, one of two five-year-old twins, had been sent to live with his grandmother at birth since the twins suffered a serious ailment and their mother was unable to take care of both of them. The father of the boy had approached the high court for custody of the boy after the grandmother refused to send the boy back to his parents. After the Covid-19 lockdown eased, several disputes arose between the father and his parents, and in February 2025, they exchanged legal notices over the boy's custody. The father filed several police complaints in March, requesting the police to intervene in the custody dispute, but the boy's grandmother refused to hand him over to his parents, prompting the father to approach the court. Representatives of the father said that grandmother has no superior legal right to retain the child's custody over its biological father. "The son ought to be reunited with his biological parents and twin brother," said the father's council. The council representing the grandmother argued that the boy's mother has shown no emotional or parental bond with the children and had declined to take custody of the twins, describing them as a 'burden'. The council added that the child has been under the care, love, and guardianship of the grandmother since birth. However, the court said that the biological father and natural guardian has an undisputed legal right to claim custody of his child. The bench held that the grandmother's claim that the child's parents are emotionally and financially incapable of caring for him cannot be accepted. "Despite the grandmother sharing an emotional bond with the child, such attachment does not confer upon her a superior right to custody over that of the biological parent. While due regard must be given to the rights of the father and mother as the natural guardian, such rights may be curtailed only if it is shown that his custody would be detrimental to the child's welfare", the court ruled. The court said that the welfare of the child is the paramount consideration in custody matters, and directed both parties to extend their full cooperation to facilitate a smooth transition for the child....