Madhya Pradesh High Court: S.A.Dharmadhikari J., dismissed a writ petition which was filed invoking the jurisdiction of the Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
The petitioner had alleged that his son (corpus) Ali Khan was in illegal detention of respondent 5 Yasmin Bano who was the wife of the petitioner. He contended that from the initial stage itself behavior of respondent 5 towards the petitioner was not good and she used to quarrel with his mother and other family member. The counsel for the petitioner, Mr Sushil Goswami submitted that the respondent 5 came to her maternal home in Gwalior without any intimation and refused to return back and did not even permit the petitioner to meet the son. He further submitted that as per the settled legal position father has the equal right as of the mother in respect of the son.
The Court explained that child with the mother can not be said to be in illegal confinement, the Court further explained that writ petition for habeas corpus was maintainable only if the person was in illegal confinement and in exceptional circumstances and it was not to justify or examine the legality of the custody. The court observed that in the present matter custody of the child was with the mother/respondent 5 can not be said to be illegal confinement. Remedy lies only under the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act or the Guardianship and Wards Act as the case may be.
The Court while dismissing the appeal held that it was not inclined to exercise the jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and the petitioner could file an application for custody of the child under the appropriate law.[Mohd. Shakil Khan v. State of M.P., 2020 SCC OnLine MP 2825, decided on 11-12-2020]
Suchita Shukla, Editorial Assistant has put this story together