4-yr-old tells court he wants to live with mum

Interim HC order gives custody to mother, but allows father access to child till he is in India

MUMBAI: Wearing a yellow T-shirt and jeans, four-year-old Karan (name changed) could have been going on a picnic with his collection of toys. But it was the Bombay high court premises he entered on Tuesday afternoon with hardly a clue that he was about to make probably the most crucial decision of his life —  choosing between growing up in South Africa with his father Rishi Nandlal or in Mumbai with his mother Deepti.

After a few minutes alone with the judges, Karan walked out with a bar of chocolate from the chamber of Justice BH Marlapalle and Justice DB Bhosale and hugged his mother. He had just told them he wanted to live with her.

“He came out of the chamber and said Mummy mein aapko chodke kabhi nahi jaunga (Mom, I will never leave you),” said his aunts  who accompanied them to the court. Deepti, 34, broke down as she stepped out of the chamber, held him tight and kissed him.

A nervous Deepti had earlier said, “He has never slept without me for a day. Right from his birth, he has not stayed away from me.”

But 46-year-old Rishi found it difficult to accept the decision. “The South African court has given me his custody. How is this fair? My child has been brain-washed.”

The court, in an interim order, granted custody of Karan, also a South African citizen by birth, to Deepti, but allowed Rishi access to his son as long as he is in India. Rishi, who leaves on Saturday, can spend time with Karan between 10 am and 7 pm.

Before entering the judge’s chamber Karan, bright-eyed and chirpy, introduced this reporter to his toys. Showing his favourite plastic goat he said, “Yeh mere saath school jata hai, khana khata hai aur home-work bhi karta hai (He goes to school with me, eats with me and does home-work too.”

Observing that Karan was “absolutely comfortable” in his father’s company, the judges said they could not grant his custody to Rishi at this stage. Though the judges said he could take Karan with him right after stepping out of court and drop him to his mother’s place by 7pm, the long day had taken its toll on the child.

Cranky, tired and sleepy, Karan refused to go without his mother. The court has now asked Deepti to accompany Karan while he is with his father.

“I am looking forward to spending a good three days with my son now. I didn’t come to India for nothing,” said Rishi.

The judges have also directed Rishi to deposit his passport with the court before taking his son out as Deepti’s advocate MM Vashi expressed apprehensions that he may take Karan away to South Africa.

The court was of the view that Deepti and Rishi’s marriage was “irretrievably broken” and they should file for divorce by mutual consent in the family court in Mumbai.

They suggested that Rishi, a civil engineer in South Africa, should pay at least Rs20,000 as maintenance for his child. “The father can choose the child’s school and bear his educational and medical expenses,” the court said.

The judges said the parents could approach the court every three years if they wanted to vary the terms of divorce or Karan’s custody. “We are not permanently closing the doors to the father for custody,” Justice Bhosale said. The court adjourned the case till September 5 and asked both the parties and their advocates to meet on Wednesday to discuss the consent terms.

DNA had first reported the tussle for custody of the child who is a South African national. The law point involved in the family feud is whether a local court can decide the custody battle between the parents of a child who is a foreign citizen and has been living abroad.