Writ Petition (Habeas Corpus) No.85 of 2025, High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru, decided 29.08.2025 (CAV judgment per Anu Sivaraman J.; coram: Anu Sivaraman and Rajesh Rai K JJ.). Petitioner-mother sought a writ of habeas corpus directing respondent No.1 (father, working at Al Bidaa Dental Centre, Doha, Qatar) to produce the children before the Court, alleging he took the children to Doha in the last week of August 2021 for a vacation and did not return them to India. Procedural background: O.S.No.10/2020 filed by the respondent-husband seeking dissolution of marriage; G & WC No.11/2020 before the Principal Judge, Family Court, Bengaluru; I.A.No.8 under Section 12 of G & WC Act filed on 19.04.2024 seeking production of the children and restoration of custody; Family Court order dated 15.04.2025 that I.A.No.8 requires evidence and would be heard with the main petition; a writ petition against that order pending before this Court; order sheet showing the children had been kept present before and had interacted with the Family Court. Held: (i) not a fit case to exercise extraordinary original jurisdiction under Article 226 to issue a writ of habeas corpus for production of the children; (ii) the normal law of the land exercised through the Family Courts has to take its course; (iii) petition dismissed with no opinion expressed on the merits, the petitioner being free to take recourse to remedies available under law for securing the children or visitation rights. Decisions cited by counsel (referred, not engaged with by the Court): Tejaswini Gaud v. Shekhar Jagdish Prasad Tewari, (2019) 7 SCC 42; Vishal Verma v. State Govt. of NCT of Delhi, W.P.(CRL) 2808/2024 and CRL.M.A. 110/2025 (16.01.2025).
