Report No. 257

E. The Present Report

1.8 After receiving a large number of responses to the Consultation Paper, the Commission formed a sub-committee comprising the Chairman, Justice A.P. Shah; Prof. Moolchand Sharma, Member, Law Commission of India; Prof. Yogesh Tyagi and Mr. R. Venkataramani, Part-Time Members, Law Commission of India; Ms. Dipika Jain, Associate Professor and Mr. Saptarshi Mandal, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School.

The committee surveyed legal provisions pertaining to shared custody in both developing and developed countries, focusing in particular on the circumstances in which joint custody is granted or avoided; parenting plans; and mediation. Further, through a series of meetings with legal experts, practitioners and other actors involved in child custody disputes, the committee outlined the nature and scope of the concept of shared parenting in India and identified the provisions in the current law that need to be amended.

The committee was assisted by Ms. Sumathi Chandrashekaran, Consultant, Law Commission of India; Mr. Brian Tronic; Ms. Upasana Garnaik and Ms. Kimberly Rhoten, Assistant Professors, Jindal Global Law School; and Ms. Madhuvanti Rajkumar, Ms. Smriti Sharma and Mr. Pranay Lekhi, Researchers, Law Commission of India. The Committee also acknowledges the valuable suggestions and inputs made by Justice (Mrs) Manju Goel, Retired Judge, Delhi High Court and Ms Laila Ollapally of Centre for Advanced Mediation Practice, Bangalore.