High Court dismissed a writ petition for habeas corpus seeking the production of a minor daughter. It held that custody disputes arising from matrimonial differences must be decided by the appropriate civil court, not via habeas corpus.
Writ of habeas corpus declined; parties left to raise contentions before the appropriate Court.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
1 WP1578_12.sxw
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MUMBAI CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO.1578 OF 2012 WITH CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.299 OF 2012
Sameer Yeshwant Umralkar ... Petitioner Versus State of Maharashtra and others ... Respondents
Ms Seema Sarnaik, Advocate for the Petitioner. Mrs M. H. Mhatre, APP for Respondent No.1 Mr. S. B. Deshmukh, Advocate for Respondent Nos.2 to 4.
CORAM : A.M. KHANWILKAR & R. G. KETKAR, JJ. DATE : 1ST AUGUST, 2012
P.C . :
Heard Counsel for the parties.
2 WP1578_12.sxw
the mediation process was in progress. It is not a case that the whereabouts of the minor daughter Samali are not known. The argument of the petitioner that respondent No.4 has given up her right to the custody of minor daughter Samali by keeping the daughter at her parents' place at Bhopal can be redressed in the proceedings to be filed before the appropriate Court for the custody of minor child. The Petition for issuance of Writ of Habeas Corpus cannot be converted into the Petition for the custody of minor child. We, therefore, decline to examine the issues raised in this Petition. Instead we leave the option open to the parties to raise all the contentions before the appropriate Court. All contentions are left open. We are not expressing any opinion on any of the contentions either raised by the petitioner or the private respondents in the present proceedings.
(R. G. KETKAR, J.)
(A. M. KHANWILKAR, J.)
Minal Parab
3 issues framed by the court
Whether a writ of habeas corpus can be issued for the custody of a minor when the child's whereabouts are known and the dispute arises from matrimonial differences.
Whether the petitioner's claim that the respondent has given up custody rights can be examined in habeas corpus proceedings.
Whether the high court can decline to examine custody contentions in a criminal petition and refer parties to the appropriate court.
Sameer Yeshwant Umralkar
State of Maharashtra
Samali
Respondents 2 to 4
A.M. KHANWILKAR
R. G. KETKAR
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
