Ex-wife, son can travel to visit her parents: HC ‘Won’t Interfere With Family Court’s Nod For Trip’
Rosy.Sequeira@timesofindia.com 28.12.2024
Mumbai : Bombay High Court refused to further delay the travel of a woman and her nine-yearold son to visit her parents in Singapore after her former husband sought to prevent it. The trip was originally scheduled between Dec 22 and Jan 4. “I am not inclined to interfere with the permission granted by the learned Family Court (FC), which has entitled the respondent-mother and the minor son to travel to Singapore within the parameters set out by the... court,” said Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan on Thursday.
In Sept 2022, the Supreme Court had dissolved the couple’s marriage and endorsed consent terms. Neither would take their son out of India without four weeks’ prior intimation to the other. In contempt proceedings filed by both, SC on Jan 19 said consent terms could be modified by an appropriate legal forum. So, after the FC’s order, the father moved the HC vacation bench, saying the mother is a flight risk as she and the son are Singapore citizens.
Senior advocate Aabad Ponda said if his son does not return, his interest in having access to the child would be jeopardised. Justice Sundaresan said on the contrary consent terms bind the parties, and “it is incumbent on the father to ensure there is no impediment to such travel... envisaged in consent terms”. The mother’s advocate, Mrunalini Deshmukh, said it was known she and the son are Singapore citizens during the signing of consent terms. She referred to the mother’s undertaking to FC to return as scheduled on Jan 4.
Justice Sundaresan said the father’s flight risk apprehension is allayed by the mother’s undertakings to FC, and reiterated in person to HC. The father raised an issue of the mother's renewing her leave-and-licence agreement for mere three months after it expired in Nov and that it was also not registered. The judge said its non1 registration “does not turn the needle in favour of preventing the departure of respondent-mother and minor son on the proposed vacation trip”. He noted the mother had enhanced the licence period for further 11 months to deal with the father’s objection. “I see no basis to hold up any further, the proposed travel of the respondent-mother with the minor son,” said Justice Sundaresan.
He noted that having delayed the original departure, the mother was willing to incur additional expense to book fresh tickets to be able to travel forthwith. The only impediment was the son’s passport and the OCI card kept in Deutsche Bank’s joint locker. The father said he would come to Mumbai on Friday to enable the mother to access the son’s documents. Justice Sundaresan directed the bank to release them to the mother should his visit not transpire. Justice Sundaresan declined Ponda’s request to interview the child, saying the consent terms “are loud and clear in relation to such travel”. “...there is no necessity to further delay the matter, and subject the child to the trauma of having to visit the court and being interviewed about whether a vacation to meet grandparents would be in order,” he added
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