Shaheen Saifi Vs State of NCT of Delhi & Ors. — Writ and Judicial Review | Delhi HC (2025)

Shaheen Saifi Vs State of NCT of Delhi & Ors. — Writ and Judicial Review | Delhi HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petition disposed of in terms of the settlement recorded in the parties' joint affidavit-cum-NOC: temporary/day-to-day custody of the minor daughter with the mother at her parental house; father permitted weekly visits there; mutual undertakings of cordial conduct, no religious conversion of the child and no unlawful practices such as female genital mutilation; petitioner pressed no further relief.

Issue for consideration

Whether the court should issue a writ of habeas corpus directing production of the petitioner's infant daughter (ABCD), restoration of her custody to the petitioner-mother, and registration of an FIR by respondent no. 1 against respondent nos. 2-5 for kidnapping the child.

Court's answer

The parties having amicably settled their disputes and submitted a joint affidavit which was taken on record, and the petitioner pressing no further relief, the court disposed of the writ petition in terms of the settlement between the parties.

Ratio / Principle

Per the settlement recorded in the joint affidavit (item II), by mutual consent the day-to-day care of the minor daughter and her temporary custody shall remain with the mother at her parental house.

Key takeaways

Per the settlement (item III), the mother stated she has no objection to the father visiting and meeting the minor daughter once in a week at her parental house.ratio¶5
Per the settlement (item V), the mother and her family members undertook not to perform any religious conversion of the minor child.ratio¶5
Per the settlement (item VI), it was undertaken that no kind of unlawful or illegal practice, including 'female genital mutilation', will be performed by the mother or her family members.ratio

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Delhi High Court (coram: Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain; order dated 18.08.2025) disposed of a writ petition (W.P.(CRL) 2450/2025) filed by Shaheen Saifi, the mother, under Article 226 of the Constitution read with Section 528 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), praying for a writ of habeas corpus for production and custody of her about 7-month-old daughter (ABCD) and for registration of an FIR against respondent nos. 2-5 for allegedly kidnapping the child. Both parents appeared in person and stated they had amicably settled their disputes; their joint affidavit-cum-NOC was directed to be taken on record. Its terms: the parties are the child's natural and biological parents; day-to-day care and temporary custody of the minor shall remain with the mother at her parental house (F-14, Phase-1, Vijay Vihar, Rohini, Sector-7, Delhi-85); the father may visit and meet the child once a week there without interruption or objection by the mother/her family, undertaking not to create unpleasantness; both sides undertake cordial conduct during meetings; the mother and her family undertake not to perform any religious conversion of the child and not to perform any unlawful or illegal practice including 'female genital mutilation'; the child's safety, security and well-being shall be the mother's priority; all subject to the welfare of the minor child. As the petitioner did not press for any further relief, the petition stood disposed of as per the settlement. No precedent was cited and no adjudication of the kidnapping allegation occurred; the disposal was entirely consent-based.

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

W.P.(CRL) 2450/2025 & CRL.M.A. 23077/2025 SHAHEEN SAIFI .....Petitioner

Through: Mr.Raghav Narayan and Mr.Shiv Jyoti Sharma, Advs.

versus

STATE OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr.Sanjay Lao, St. Counsel (Crl.) with Mr. Abhinav Kumar Arya & Mr. Aryan Sachdeva, Advs. Mr.Vikas Sharma, Ms. Manvi Choudhary, Advs. for R2 with respondent No.2 in person. SI Rajesh Kumar and HC Anil, PS Vijay Vihar.

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIVEK CHAUDHARY HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE MANOJ JAIN

O R D E R % 18.08.2025

This is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 528 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (in short ‘BNSS’) for issuance of writ in the nature of Habeas Corpus, thereby directing the respondents to produce the corpus / daughter of petitioner (ABCD) before this Court and further restoring the custody of baby ABCD with the petitioner and further directing the respondent no.1 to register FIR against respondent nos.2-5 for forcefully kidnapping the daughter of petitioner from her custody or Habeas Corpus filed by the mother/wife for the custody of her child who is aged about 7 months.

This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 23/08/2025 at 12:19:27

Parties also appear in person.

It is stated that both of them have amicably settled their disputes and seek to submit joint affidavit to said effect.

Such affidavit is directed to be taken on record.

As per affidavit, both the parties have agreed as under:

I. That the parties are the natural and biological parents of minor daughter ABCD.

II. That by mutual consent, it has been agreed that the due day-to-day care of the minor daughter, temporary custody shall remain with the mother at her parental house situated at F-14, phase-1, Vijay Vihar, Rohini, Sector-7, Delhi-85.

III. That the mother has no objection to the father visiting and meeting the minor daughter once in a week at her parental house as stated above, and the same shall not be interrupted/objected by the mother and her family members.

IV. That the father undertakes not to create any unpleasant atmosphere at the parental house of the mother, while exercising his visitation rights.

V. That the mother and her family members undertake not to perform any religious conversion of the minor child.

VI. That the any kind of unlawful or illegal practices like “female genital mutilation” will not be performed by the mother or her family members.

VII. That the safety, security and well-being of the minor child shall be at priority to mother.

VIII. That this Joint Affidavit-cum-NOC is executed to record the mutual understanding between the parents and to avoid any future dispute in respect of visitation of father, subject to the welfare of the minor child at all times.

IX. That both the parties shall try to amicably settle down the dispute for the well being of their minor child.

This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 23/08/2025 at 12:19:27

X. That both parties undertake to maintain cordial conduct during such meetings and not to cause any physical or verbal disturbance in the presence of the minor child or the family members of the mother.

In view thereof, the petitioner does not press for any further relief and her counsel prays that petition be disposed of in terms of settlement between the parties.

Resultantly, the petition stands disposed of as per the above settlement.

VIVEK CHAUDHARY, J

MANOJ JAIN, J

AUGUST 18, 2025 / neelam/ht

This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 23/08/2025 at 12:19:27