Father can meet son in Dubai, rules Supreme Court

In one of the rarest orders, the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted a city-based businessman access to his son, allegedly illegally detained by his mother, overseas.

Holding that it would be in the interest of the child to get the love and affection of both parents, the court allowed Sandip Kedia, 37, to visit his son in Dubai between December 17 and January 3, 2011.

“To balance the scales of justice and considering the sentiments of the father who too has a right to meet his son and also in the interest of the child, we deem it just and appropriate to allow the respondent-father to meet his son by going to Dubai…” justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra wrote in their order.

Kedia, who alleged that his wife Pooja had fled the country with their five-year-old son without his knowledge, had first moved the Bombay high court in a habeas corpus petition, seeking the production of his son.

On October 29, the high court had ordered that the child be brought before the court but the Supreme Court stayed this order after Pooja challenged it.

Earlier in the high court, Kedia’s petition stated that Pooja had who been staying separately for months had fled abroad with their son.

During the proceedings, the Supreme Court was informed that she is in Dubai, staying with her mother and son. While Kedia had sought that the child be brought to India for him to get access to his son, Pooja had apprehended that he may never send the child back to Dubai where the boy is currently attending school.

“Even if we were to appreciate the apprehension expressed by the mother, we see no reason why the father should be denied the right to meet the child at least in Dubai,” the apex court held.

The court has allowed Kedia access to his child on all days that he spends
in Dubai during his school vacation between 2pm and 8pm Dubai time.

Child taken abroad on fake passport?
Kedia who was separated from his child for at least nine months had filed a habeas corpus petition against his wife Pooja and her brother Vikash Berlia.

The case also had security implications, as Kedia alleged that Pooja procured a duplicate passport for the boy, saying that she is a “single parent”. The couple, married in 2000, is not divorced or legally separated for her to seek a duplicate passport as a single parent, he contended.

Kedia claimed that the passport was issued in violation of the Passport Act and Passport Rules, 1980, while the original was in his possession.

Authorities did not verify whether the original was lost or not.

Along with the production of his child, Kedia has also sought a CBI inquiry into the issuance of the duplicate passport.