PANJIM, MAY 18: This Christmas,  10-year-old Rico will have lunch with his mother and dinner with his father. But the lunch arrangement on Christmas day will be altered every subsequent year.

On his mother’s birthday, he will be with her and on his  father’s birthday, he’ll stay with his father.

Likewise, his birthday will be celebrated alternately by the mother and the father every alternate year.

On school days he will be with his mother from Monday to Friday and be with his father every alternate weekend.

The programme for Ryan has been chalked  out  by the Bombay High Court  at Goa while settling the issue of his custody between warring parents.

Ryan envied his friends having great time with their parents.  Henceforth, he would also be able to be with  both his parents, separately, nevertheless.

His mother, a  working  woman  had  challenged the order of the court  that granted custody of her son to the father.

The father had obtained the custody of the son on ground that the mother was keeping late hours in her professional work and lived with a partner who had a child from his previous marriage.

On interviewing the child, the court however found that the boy has accepted the relationship and the present position of both his parents.

“This is not one case in which the child has suffered any trauma at the hands of either parent. He deserves to have the care, attention, upbringing and affection from both parents,” observed Justice R Dalvi  while  judiciously dividing  the time  that child would  spend  with both his parents. And,  in a way allowed the custody  of the child to both parents but separately.

All his vacations will henceforth be shared by the parents — during the summer vacations he will be in the custody of father and the mother every alternate fortnight starting with the father.

During Ganesh, Diwali, Christmas and any other vacations he will be with the father for the first half of the  vacations and with the mother in the second half of the vacation.

And, on Christmas day he will have lunch with the mother and have dinner with the father.