as introduced in lok sabha bill no 150 of  2017 the guardians and wards (amendment) bill, 2017 by shrimati poonam mahajan, mp a billfurther to amend the guardians and wards act, 1890be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the guardians and wards (amendment) act, 2017short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force as on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint8 of 18902  after section 18 of the guardians and wards act, 1890, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new section 18a532 of 2012prohibition of visitation and custodial rights of an offending guardian"18a (1) notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, the court shall not grant any remedy under sections 7, 12 and 25 to any person who is accused of committing an offence punishable under the protection of children from sexual offences act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as the pocso act, 2012) against the minor or ward in respect of whom such remedy is claimed, unless the same is proved to be in the best interests of such minor or ward, as the case may be10explanation—for the purpose of sub-section (1), it shall be sufficient if the person is named as the accused either in a complaint filed with the police or if such an accusation is made against such person in any of the pleadings taken before the court15(2) where an accusation under sub-section (1) is made against any guardian in any proceeding before the court, then notwithstanding any criminal proceedings initiated against such guardian, the court shall determine the best interests of the minor or ward after conducting a detailed inquiry2032 of 2012(3) during inquiry under sub-section (2), the court shall forward a copy of the pleadings setting out such accusation to the special juvenile police unit or the local police in whose jurisdiction the minor or the ward who is the alleged victim of such offence resides and the police authority shall, on receiving the said copy, act in accordance with sections 19 and 21 of the posco act, 201232 of 201225(4) the court shall, pending the inquiry under sub-section (2), draw a rebuttable presumption that granting any custody or visitation or any kind of face to face interaction or access to the guardian accused of committing any offence punishable under the posco act, 2012 in respect of the minor or a ward, as the case may be, shall not be in the best interest of such minor or a ward(5) the court shall direct parties to the dispute to lead evidence in support of their respective stand for or against the grant of measures provided under sections 7, 12 or 25305 of 1908(6) in case the minor is being treated by a child psychiatrist or a child psychologist, the court shall appoint such child psychiatrist or child psychologist as a welfare expert under order xxxiia, rule 4 of the code of civil procedure, 1908:355 of 1908provided that in case the child is not being treated by such a psychiatrist or the psychologist, then the court shall seek the assistance of the child welfare committee or the state commission for protection of child rights, who, either by themselves or through any person so appointed by them, shall be deemed to be a welfare expert under order xxxiia, rule 4 of the code of civil procedure, 190832 of 201240(7) every welfare expert appointed under sub-section (6) shall examine the minor who is the victim of offences punishable under the pocso act, 2012 and a report thereof to the court(8) the court shall permit the parties to the dispute to examine and cross examine such welfare experts and lead any other evidence which they deem fit45(9) the court shall upon conclusion of evidence in respect of the remedy claimed under section 12, hear both parties and pass suitable orders:32 of 2012provided that in case the court decides to grant remedy under section 12to the guardian accused of the offences punishable under the pocso act, 2012, then it shall provide detailed reasoning as to why the presumption under sub-section (4) above is rebutted32 of 2012 43 of 2005543 of 2005 32 of 2012(10) in case the court comes to the conclusion that the guardian claiming remedy under section 12 has committed the offence punishable under the pocso act, 2012; then the inquiry shall be deemed as an inquiry under section 18 of the protection of women from domestic violence act, 2005 and the court shall treat such minor as a victim(s) of domestic violence under section 3(c) of the protection of women from domestic violence act, 2005 and further direct that the offending guardian shall be prohibited from coming in face to face contact or any other kind of contact with the minor who is the victim of such offence punishable under the pocso act, 2012explanation—10(1) the burden of proof in the inquiry set forth above shall be thepreponderance of probabilities and not beyond reasonable doubt;15(2) if the parent accused of child sexual abuse has been acquitted by the criminal court, the same shall be ignored by the court and it shall conduct its own independent inquiry in the manner set forth above without being influenced by the order of acquittal by the criminal court;(3) mere acquittal by the criminal court shall not exempt the offending parent from facing the inquiry set forth above" statement of objects  and reasonsthe union ministry of women and child development in its study on child abuse conducted in 2007 stated that out of 53% of children reporting child sex abuse, 50% had suffered intra familial abuseindia is obligated to evolve adequate measures to protect child sex abuse victims from their offending parents which aligns with the right against discrimination and the right to health and dignity contained in articles 15 and 21 of the constitution respectively coupled with society's denial of incest, an offending father despite the said prohibition accompanying bail, can influence the child through lawfully awarded interim visitation rights thereby stalling prosecution efforts against him no explicit legislative prohibition exists against the granting of custody or visitation rights to fathers committing a sexual offence pending conviction in a criminal trial experts caution against the granting of monitored visitation to offending parents because their very presence may trigger in the child traumatic memories of abuse, feelings of being unsupported and lead to recanting of allegations against the offender thereby resulting in compromising criminal trial against the parentthe rationale behind government preparing guidelines from custodial and visitation claims by offending fathers is aimed towards ensuring that the child should not be forced to meet him the child's relationship with mother should be strengthened by recognising her as the sole guardian unless absolutely necessary, the court should not issue orders repeatedly for mediation, custody or visitation in the families involved moreover, orders granting visiting rights to an offending father should be issued only after consultations with mental health experts clearly find such visitation to be in the child's best interests finally, acquittal in a criminal trial should not automatically absolve the father of liability either the family court or a specially constituted court should initiate an independent inquiry using the standard of preponderance of probability to be certain of innocencehence this billnew delhi;poonam mahajanjuly  03, 2017 lok  sabha———— a billfurther to amend the guardians and wards act, 1890————(shrimati poonam mahajan, mp)