Court custody order must to take child custody from estranged partner: HC

Bhopal: Restoring custody of a seven-year-old girl to her mother, a division bench of Madhya Pradesh high court said the father could not have walked away with the child, who was living with her mother, without a custody order from the competent court.The mother of the girl had filed a habeas corpus petition in the court accusing her estranged husband of abduction of the child.After the girl was produced in court by the father at the behest of the judges, the court comprising Justice Pranay Verma and Justice J K Pillai said the petitioner contended that the child has been residing with her since her childhood and has never lived with her estranged husband.“Recently, her husband visited her at her residence in Jabalpur and took away the child on the pretext of spending some time with her and said he would return the child shortly but he is forcibly keeping the child in his custody, which is illegal,” the court noted.The father, who appeared in court in person, said his daughter had gone with him willingly as she wanted to meet her grandmother. However, he admitted that the girl has been residing with her mother since birth and there is no court order delivering custody to him.The judges further noted that they talked to the girl, who expressed her desire to continue living with her mother and not with her father.The court said that even if the father’s explanation is accepted, he had not obtained custody of his daughter legally and hence cannot be allowed to continue having custody.

The court handed over custody of the child to her mother while directing her to allow her estranged husband to talk to the girl as and when he desired. The court further gave liberty to the father to explore legal remedies to get custody of the child.