Couple moves HC to talk to grandchild

Couple moves HC to talk to grandchild

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad  7.8.2020

An elderly couple has moved the Gujarat high court with a prayer that it should direct their son-in-law in the US to allow them to talk on video call to their 9-year-old granddaughter, who is not in their contact for over a year.

The city-based couple has filed a habeas corpus petition to establish contact with their granddaughter, who is a US citizen because of her birth in Texas. They complained that their son-in-law has snapped all ties with them suddenly more than a year ago after demise of their daughter and after his second marriage.

Their advocate Bhargav Hasurkar said that since custody of a foreign national cannot be secured through a habeas corpus petition and this is a family matter, court’s directions were sought.

The lawyer said that after hearing the case, the high court on Thursday issued notice to the son-in-law and asked him to remain present along with the girl before the court through video conferencing next week.

In this case, the couple got their daughter married to a US-based professional in 2009. The couple had a girl child in 2011. The wife died in 2016 at an age of 30, and the man re-married few months later. The family left for the US in January 2017. The grandparents in Ahmedabad claimed that they last saw the child in 2016. After the family went to USA, they continued to talk on video.

However, in April 2019, the son-in-law suddenly snapped all ties with them. They have urged the HC to direct their son-in-law to allow them to talk to the girl on video call because they cannot visit USA.