Gujarat High Court dismisses NRI father’s plea for daughter’s repatriation to US

The petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition, citing ongoing divorce and child custody proceedings initiated in a Minnesota court in the US

PRAVASISAMWAD.COM

The Gujarat High Court has rejected the plea of an Non-Resident Indian (NRI) father seeking the repatriation of his three-year-old daughter to the United States from her mother’s custody in India. The child had remained in India after the family’s last visit in February 2023, Times of India reported.

The petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition, citing ongoing divorce and child custody proceedings initiated in a Minnesota court in the US. However, the wife concurrently approached a family court in Ahmedabad for divorce and sought to retain custody of their daughter.

• While refusing repatriation, the court granted the NRI father visiting rights and allowed his parents, who reside in the city, to meet and stay with the child

• The couple had initially arrived in Ahmedabad in February, with plans to return in March.

The court, comprising Justice A Y Kogje and Justice R M Sareen, emphasized the significance of the emotional bond between the three-year-old and her newborn sibling, born in August 2023, during the couple’s stay in India. The bench highlighted that separating the siblings could result in emotional trauma, favoring the mother’s custodianship.

The High Court, asserting that the child’s best interests are served by staying with her mother and sibling, rejected the father’s plea. It suggested that the wife can participate in the US court proceedings through video conferencing, avoiding disruption to the current living situation of the minor and her sibling.

While refusing repatriation, the court granted the NRI father visiting rights and allowed his parents, who reside in the city, to meet and stay with the child. The couple had initially arrived in Ahmedabad in February, with plans to return in March. However, the wife chose to stay back, leading to legal disputes in both the US and India over the child’s custody and education.

***********************************************************************

Readers

These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.

Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world.  We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.

Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.

In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.

For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com