New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed an order by the Hyderabad High Court directing the Vijayawada-based mother of two minor children to hand over them to their father, a US citizen.
The High Court had held that she had illegally took the children to India and asked her give the children to the US Consulate General in Hyderabad in four weeks to be sent back to their father, Paidi Venkata Venugopala Rao.
A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, while entertaining a special leave petition filed by Ms Hanumanthu Swapna stayed the High Court order and restored the children to their mother.
The petitioner said in the present case, the High Court lost sight of and ignored the well-established principles of law relating to the issue of custody of minor children. The High Court in a habeas corpus filed by the Father erroneously directed the custody of two minor boys aged 13 years and 10 years to him and held that the kids are in illegal custody of the Petitioner (mother), who is in India.
The petitioner submitted that the custody of a minor with one of the biological parents can never be illegal and that a writ for Habeas Corpus would not be maintainable.
The Guardians Court at Vijayawada had prima facie awarded custody of the children in favour of the mother. On the other hand the father claimed custody through US Court order and High Court entrusted their custody to him.
It was submitted that with regard to minor children, for the overall development it is necessary and crucial that they spend maximum time with their mother.
The petitioner prayed for quashing the High Court order and an interim stay of its operation.
