Child Custody — Psychological Evaluation of Children · 11 June 2026

Sheetal Vasant Thakur v. Chirag Arora: Supreme Court Lays Down Principles for Psychological Evaluation of Children in Custody Disputes

Supreme Court of India · 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 618; SLP(C) Nos. 18701-18702/2024

In a long-running custody, visitation and parental access dispute, the Supreme Court considered when courts may order psychological or psychiatric evaluation of a child. A Bench including Justice Sanjay Karol laid down broad principles rather than deciding the parents' competing claims on their merits.

The Court held that minimum intrusion into a child's life should be the norm and that courts must be alert to the risk of re-traumatisation. As parens patriae, courts have an independent duty to protect the child's dignity and welfare, so even where one or both parents ask for an evaluation, the court must itself decide whether it is genuinely necessary. The effect of an evaluation depends on factors such as the number of professionals involved, how often the child is seen, and the adversarial setting, and a process that looks benign may be stressful during litigation involving abuse allegations. The Court stressed institutional neutrality, observing that it is desirable for courts to appoint neutral experts, and held that an evaluation that turns into an exercise to validate or discredit allegations against either parent loses its welfare character. It also noted that the parents' own psychological condition may be equally relevant to the child's best interests.

More about this case →