The Karnataka High Court on June 07, 2023 has come up with a rare order directing the police to approach the employer of a woman to hold back her pay, because she failed to handover custody of her minor child to her husband, despite judicial order.
A division bench ofJustice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde has ordered that all the benefits payable to her to be held until the woman hands over the custody of the daughter to her husband.
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Case:
Parties got married in October 2011 and have a minor daughter who is now 7-years-old.
The petitioner who is the father of the daughter filed a petition under Section 25 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’ for short), which was allowed by the Family Court vide judgment and decree dated 03.03.2022.
The operative portion of the judgment reads as under:
Petition filed by the petitioner under Section 25 of Guardian and Wards Act is allowed.
Respondent / mother is directed to handover the custody of the minor child X aged about 7 years to the custody of the petitioner within one month from the date of this order.
Further the respondent is permanent restrained by an order of injunction from removing the child from the jurisdiction of this court till the child is handed over to the custody of petitioner.
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The wife/mother challenged this order and her appeal was decided vide judgment dated 31.01.2023 where the judgment of the family court has been upheld. The January 2023 judgment read as under:
The appeal is dismissed. We feel that the interest of the minor child will be best served if the custody of the child is handed over to the respondent but with sufficient access to the appellant to visit the minor at frequent intervals, and therefore, while confirming the judgment and decree dated 03.03.2022 passed by the Family Court in G & WC No.128/2018 filed by the respondent under Section 25 of the Act, and directing appellant to grant custody of the minor child to the respondent, we are inclined to grant visitation rights to the appellant though she has not prayed for the same.
Aggrieved by the defiance of the wife/mother to comply with judicial orders, the husband/father filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court.
Defense by Wife/Mother
The counsel for the wife argued that the child was not in illegal custody of her own mother.
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Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has come down heavily on the wife for not handing over custody of the minor child to father, even after orders weer passed by the courts granting custody. The High Court has termed this as “abuse of process of law that cannot be countenanced.”
In fact, on an earlier date, the court had also issued non-bailable warrants against the wife and had directed the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru to keep her present in court.
The bench ofJustice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde observed:
The wife cannot be permitted to continue with the custody of the daughter as the same is in contravention of judgments of the court, which have attained finality and is binding on the parties.
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Illegal Custody?
The High Court placed reliance on Supreme Court judgment in Rajeshwari Ganesh Vs State of Tamil Nadu and others, which held that primary object of habeas corpus petition for child’s custody is to determine in whose custody the best interest of the child will be advanced.
In view of the aforesaid enunciation of law by Hon’ble Supreme Court, it is evident that in child custody matters, when the child is in custody of one of the parents, a writ of habeas corpus is maintainable.
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Concluding the matter, the Karnataka High Court ordered:
- The Commissioner of Police, Bangalore shall ensure that concerned Station House Officer hands over the custody of the daughter to the petitioner within 24 hours from the date of receipt of a copy of this order
- The police is also directed to contact employer of the wife viz., Manipal Health Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. Annexe, Old Airport Road, Bengaluru to hold back all the benefits payable to her till custody of the daughter is handed over
- The directions contained in the order dated 09.05.2023 relating to initiation of suo motu criminal and civil contempt proceeding shall also be given effect to
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VOICE FOR MEN INDIA TAKE:
- Women have taken the law and our judicial system for a ride
- In most cases, there is hardly any action against any woman defying laws, particularly in matrimonial and child custody matters
- There are several fathers who spend years, huge amount on lawyers, take leaves from work, only to get a visitation order to meet their children. However, in absence of compliance of that order, the fathers then struggle again to approach court, to now get ‘contempt of court order’ against the estranged wife
- In the meantime, there is enough lapse of time, and the children are brainwashed and automatically alienated from their fathers
WATCH:
Hold Back Wife’s Salary Until She Hands Over Daughter’s Custody To Husband | Karnataka High Court
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READ ORDER: Karnataka HC Orders Employer To Hold Back Wife's Pay Until She Hands Over Daughter's Custody To Father
— Voice For Men India (@voiceformenind) June 12, 2023
▪️Justice Alok Aradhe & Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde: "All benefits payable to be held until she hands over custody"#VoiceForMenhttps://t.co/eeWLbgDDQN
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