The Bombay High Court at Goa awarded the Custody of a 5- year-old girl child to her Dutch mother after the father, an Indian, failed to comply with the directives issued by a District Court in the Netherlands. The Wife alleged that despite having an OCI Card for the girl child, her husband acquired an Indian Passport to deny the return of their daughter. Further, the mother wasn’t allowed to meet the family or her daughter and was asked to severe her ties with India. The husband argued that he had earlier faced racial discrimination in the Netherlands and continues to be discriminated against on racial grounds. The High Court noted that the plea of racial discrimination was not raised until the husband filed an appeal in the Dutch Court. The bench said that the said defense was taken at a very belated stage and was as vague as possible. The division bench, while ordering the handing over of custody to the wife, stated that the sudden disconnect of the child from her native country, the Netherlands, is unjustifiable because she is a Dutch national. Furthermore, she was less than five years of age at that time, and her main residence was with her mother, where she was studying in school.

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 3951 OF 2023

Abhinandan Adhikari