CHANDIMA JANAKA WIJESINGHE Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition the petitioner seeks writ of habeas corpus for a direction to respondent no. 4 to produce minor children Arya and Chenuk before this court and further to hand over custody of the said minor children to him. This petition is arising out of situation created by matrimonial discord and disputes between the petitioner and respondent no. 4, which has led to the minor children being brought to India from Sri Lanka by their mother i.e. respondent no. 4.

(2.) Facts leading up to the filing of the present petition are that the petitioner and respondent no. 4 got married on 7/3/2010. The petitioner as well as respondent no. 4 are well educated persons and after marriage both of them went to the United States of America (USA). It is undisputed that the petitioner is citizen of Sri Lanka as well as Canada and that both the petitioner and respondent no. 4 started working in USA upon shifting to the said country after marriage. On 9/9/2013, daughter Arya was born out of the wedlock in USA and she undisputedly holds dual citizenship of both USA and Sri Lanka. The younger child i.e. boy named Chenuk was born in India on 19/7/2014 and he holds citizenship of Sri Lanka.

(3.) It appears that after the petitioner and respondent no. 4 had to shift to Sri Lanka from USA, matrimonial discord began. In the petition filed before this court by the petitioner and the affidavit in reply filed by respondent no. 4, allegations and counter allegations have been made as regards the nature of the disputes between the parties. As is common in such disputes, serious allegations have been made by the rival parties against each other and it is alleged by both parties against each other that other person was not conscious about the welfare of the children. While the petitioner has sought to blame the parents of respondent no. 4 in the matrimonial discord, the respondent no. 4 has blamed the mother of the petitioner. Be that as it may, there is no dispute about the fact that situation became such that the petitioner and his mother filed police complaints against respondent no. 4, while the respondent no. 4 approached an organization in Sri Lanka called "Women in need" in order to seek relief.