New Delhi: The Supreme Court stayed a Telangana High Court order, which directed shifting of the child from her father to the mother, acting on a plea of habeas corpus filed by the mother, however, the apex court allowed the mother to visit the daughter, who at present is with her father. The apex court orally remarked that it is a settled law that habeas corpus is not issued in such a matter.
The bitter feud between mother and father over custody of the minor girl also involves an allegation of attempting to abduct the child from her school, leading the father to report the incident to the local police. The couple, who hail from Hyderabad, got married in December 2014, and they have a six-year-old daughter and a nine-month-old son. The father claimed the mother voluntarily left her marital residence in March 2022, in Pune, abandoning her husband and young children.
A bench comprising justices Anirudhha Bose and Bela. M Trivedi took up the matter on September 27, and issued notice on the plea filed by the father challenging the High Court order. The bench, in its order, said, “Counsel for respondent No 2 (wife) appears on caveat and accepts service of notice on behalf of his client. Hence, formal service of notice on respondent No 2 is dispensed with. Service to be effected upon the Standing Counsel for the State of Telangana. List this matter after two weeks”.
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The bench said, “In the meantime, the impugned order shall remain stayed on condition that the respondent No 2 is permitted to visit the daughter, who is at present with the petitioner-father”. During the hearing, advocate Namit Saxena, representing the father, contended that the writ of habeas corpus, in cases pertaining to child custody, is maintainable only when the detention of a minor child by a parent or others is illegal, unauthorised and lacks legal authority.
“However, the Hon’ble High Court did not duly acknowledge the child's healthy and positive relationship with her father, who has provided her with a nurturing and stable environment since her mother's abandonment. Moreover, the child is under the lawful and legal custody of her natural guardian”, submitted Saxena.
The bench orally remarked that it is a settled law that habeas corpus is not issued in such a matter. The father had moved the apex court challenging the High Court passed earlier this month. The father’s petition said, “That in a premeditated manner, respondent No 2 filed a complaint at the Lalaguda Police Station, Hyderabad, falsely alleging that the petitioner was preventing her from meeting her child, despite multiple prior interactions with the child. The petitioner subsequently put this very baseless complaint to file a writ of habeas corpus, which, regrettably, was erroneously granted by the High Court”.
