Justice Lalitha Kanneganti questioned how a trial court had passed an order that allowed the father to visit the child on weekends for 3-4 hours, 50% of school vacations and 30 minutes of call time on WhatsApp between 7:30 to 8:30 PM.
Justice Kanneganti also said that courts must replace the phrase ‘visitation time’ with ‘parenting time’.
“Courts often use the word “visitation” to describe the time the child spends with a parent who is a non-custodial parent. The term is familiar, but it carries an unfortunate suggestion that one parent is part of the child’s life while the other merely visits. A child should not be made to understand the relationship through the word “visitation,” which is used for someone who arrives and leaves as a guest. Children read the conduct of adults and sometimes the words of Courts to understand where they belong. Calling it parenting time recognizes a simple truth that no parent is a visitor in the life of a child.”