By Astha Bhumish Shah 

The Punjab and Haryana High Court in a habeas corpus plea of a mother who was seeking the release of her minor daughters from the alleged illegal detention of her in-laws, was granted interim custody of her 8-months and 2-years old daughters. It was alleged that the petitioner had left her matrimonial home after her husband’s death because her father-in-law created an exploitative and sexually abusive atmosphere. But she was not allowed to take her daughters with her. The Court rejected her in-laws’ argument that the habeas corpus petition was not maintainable since the petitioner had previously filed an application under Section 97 CrPC before the Magistrate seeking custody of her children which had been dismissed. The Court held that the dismissal order would not create any hurdle with respect to the maintenance of the present writ since liberty was granted to the petitioner to avail alternate remedy for getting custody of her minor children. The Court placed reliance on the Supreme Court’s ruling in a similar case which said that “the first and foremost consideration is welfare of the child and not the right of the parents”; and held that “the welfare of the minor daughters lies with their biological mother, especially when her nourishment depends on her mother’s breastfeeding”. Consequently, it directed the woman’s in-laws to hand over interim custody of the minor children to her. (KAMALDEEP KAUR ALIAS KAMALDEEP v. STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS – CRWP-5367-2024) 

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