US NRI mother given interim custody of son from whisked away father in India

NRI mother given interim custody of son
AHMEDABAD, 13 Aug 2007
PTI

An NRI mother who was frantically searching for her son, whisked away to Navsari from the USA by his father, was given interim custody of the five-year-old boy by the Gujarat High Court on Monday.

Deepa Topiwala had filed a habeas corpus petition alleging her former husband Nimesh Topiwala had taken away her son Mihir to India from the USA.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Y R Meena and Justice Akil Kureshi said if Nimesh wished he could file a case for custody of the child, provided it was permissible. Deepa can leave India with her son if no stay on the same was granted by any court in the next two months, the Bench said.

The passport of Mihir, who was tracked down in Pune and produced before the High Court, has been kept by the court in its custody.

Deepa married Nimesh in 1999 and gave birth to Mihir. However, because of irreconcilable differences between them, they separated after few years of marriage, Deepa said, adding Mihir was in her custody after that.

"But when his father was allowed to meet Mihir (who was then two-and half-year-old) occasionally following a court order in 2004, during one such meeting, he was whisked away to India by the former without her knowledge," Deepa alleged.

The FBI information that Mihir had been brought to Navsari in Gujarat led Deepa to India.

In her petition in the High Court she had submitted that she be given the custody of her son who was in the illegal custody of her husband and in laws Harikrishna Topiwala and Hansa Topiwala.