mother as natural guardian

Mother as a natural guardian:

As per the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act -- 'natural guardian' means any of the guardians mentioned in Section 6."

Section 6:

“The natural guardians" of a Hindu minor, in respect of the minor's person as well as in respect of the minor's property (excluding his or her undivided interest in joint family property), are:

(a) in the case of a boy or an unmarried girl -- the father, and after him, the mother; provided that the custody of a minor who has not completed the age of five years shall ordinarily be with the mother;

In the phrase “the father and after him, the mother” the word ‘after’ need not necessarily mean after the lifetime of father. In the context in which it appears in section 6(a) it means ‘in the absence of ‘, the word ‘absence’ therein referring to the father’s absence from the care of minor’s property or person for any reason whatsoever. If the father is wholly indifferent to the matters of the minor or if by virtue of mutual understanding between the parents, the mother is put exclusively in charge of the minor or if the father is physically unable to take care of minor for any reason whatsoever, the father can be considered to be absent and mother being a recognised natural guardian can act validly on behalf of the minor as the guardian. Such an interpretation will keep the statute within the constitutional limits otherwise the word ‘after’ if read to mean a disqualification of a mother to act as guardian during lifetime of father the same would violate one of basic principles of our constitution i.e. gender equality; Githa Hariharan v. Reserve Bank of India, AIR 1999 SC 1149.