MANSI Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The prayer in the present petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India is for the issuance of a Writ of Habeas Corpus directing respondent Nos.1 to 3 to produce the minor child of the petitioner namely, Riaan Shahi who is less than 02 years old (at the time of filing of the petition) from the illegal detention of respondent Nos.4 to 6 and allow him to join the company of the petitioner who is the mother.

(2.) The brief facts of the case as emanating from the pleadings are that the petitioner, who is qualified as B.Tech (I.T.) and is a resident of Panchkula, solemnized a love marriage with respondent No.4 on 4/12/2017 and out of the said wedlock one son namely Riaan Shahi was born on 20/8/2020. Respondent Nos.4 to 6 (being her husband and in-laws) were extremely greedy and on account of inadequate dowry, she was mistreated by them and faced a lot of harassment. The details of the atrocities have been submitted to the Police in a separate complaint dtd. 26/7/2022 (Annexure R-8). The petitioner and respondent No.4 were employed at Noida but on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a lockdown was imposed, they both came to reside and work from home with respondent Nos.5 and 6 at Pathankot.

(3.) On 22/7/2022, the petitioner's employer (TSYS Noida) called the petitioner back to office with the directions that her physical presence was mandatory henceforth and accordingly, the petitioner requested respondent No.4 to return to Noida on which he started quarrelling with her and gave her physical beatings. On 23/7/2022, the family members of respondent No.4 also started quarreling with the petitioner and gave beatings to her. The real sister of respondent No.4 who resides adjoining to the house of respondent Nos.4 to 6 came to the house of respondent Nos.4 to 6 and gave slaps on the face of the petitioner and in the evening she was thrown out of the matrimonial home while retaining the minor child who was less than 02 years old and dependent on the mother's feed. Despite all attempts to take her child along with her, the respondent Nos.4 to 6 remained adamant and had retained the child against the wishes of the petitioner. On being thrown out of the matrimonial home, she travelled by bus to Panchkula and reached the house of her parents. She submitted a complaint dtd. 26/7/2022 (Annexure R-8) against the respondent Nos.4 to 6 and referred to the fact that they did not allow her to take her child when she was ousted out of the matrimonial home. It is stated that the sole purpose of respondent Nos.4 to 6 was to retain the child so as to be used as a bargaining chip in order to protect themselves from the process of law. She has not been permitted even to speak to her minor child and despite her father making attempts to resolve the dispute, he was told by respondent No.4 that they had retained the child with them and he (father of the petitioner) could keep the petitioner. Reliance is placed on the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Rajeswari Chandrasekar Ganesh Versus State of Tamil Nadu & Others, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.402 of 2021 decided on 14/7/2022 to contend that a writ of Habeas Corpus is maintainable at the instance of one parent against the other and in child custody matters, the only relevant consideration was the welfare of the child. In the present case, since the child was less than 02 years old (at the time of the filing of this petition) and was on the mother's feed his custody should be handed over to the petitioner as he has been illegally detained by respondent Nos.4 to 6.