“Not in the best interest of five years old child to be separated from his mother and his elder sister living in Ukraine”: Delhi High Court
March 21, 2024 2024-04-18 7:37“Not in the best interest of five years old child to be separated from his mother and his elder sister living in Ukraine”: Delhi High Court
“Not in the best interest of five years old child to be separated from his mother and his elder sister living in Ukraine”: Delhi High Court
By Praneetha Shivaprasad
A division bench of the Delhi High Court did not interfere with the judgement of the Family Court which granted custody to a Ukrainian citizen in a guardianship petition. In this case, the appellant-father was married to the respondent-mother in Ukraine where they had two children who were Ukrainian citizens by birth. Subsequently, the marriage between the parties was dissolved. Thereafter, the appellant was granted visitation when soon after, war broke out between Ukraine and Russia, so the appellant took the minor son from Ukraine and reached India on 28-03-2022. The respondent then came to India and filed a habeas corpus petition praying that the father should produce the minor son. Upon receiving a guardianship petition, the Family Court ruled that it lacked the territorial jurisdiction to consider the case. The High Court upheld this order and commented that custody would not have been provided to the appellant even on the merits of the case since the child was a Ukrainian citizen and wished to return home.
