The Supreme Court (SC) will examine whether Indian courts can interfere in disputes over custody of a child born abroad but studying in India.
SC took the decision on Thursday while hearing a dispute over the custody of US-born Kush Majoo, who lives with his mother and studies in New Delhi.
After the California Supreme Court granted Kush’s American-citizen father Sanjeev divorce, his mother Ruchi, a dental surgeon and an American citizen, returned to India along with the child and filed a divorce suit in the Delhi district court. The district judge held that an Indian court was empowered to hear the matter which might be pending before the US court. But the Delhi high court scrapped the lower court’s order on Sanjeev’s plea seeking Kush’s custody and accusing Ruchi of abduction.
Sanjeev has even moved Interpol seeking action against Ruchi for taking away the kid from US court’s custody.
SC has to decide whether Kush is an “ordinary citizen” who is residing and pursuing studies in India.
It ordered status quo — that the child wouldn’t be allowed to leave Delhi where he is studying and his father will be restrained from disturbing his custody with the mother — till Friday when it will decide the matter.
A bench of chief justice KG Balakrishnan and justices JM Panchal and Deepak Verma ordered the status quo after additional solicitor general Indira Jaisingh submitted that the case involved the larger question of jurisdiction of Indian courts in such cases.
She said it’s not a question of one mother, but of thousands of Ruchis in the country who are facing a similar predicament. Ruchi’s lawyer said the Delhi HC’s order was erroneous on the question of jurisdiction because the expression “ordinarily resident” would include a child residing and pursuing studies in India.
