The Supreme Court has expressed its strong displeasure against a foreign court for imposing a travel ban on a child whose parents were involved in a matrimonial dispute, saying that the ‘atrocious’ order violated human rights and amounted to house arrest.
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh made these observations on Friday, while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a man seeking custody of his son.
Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Nikhil Goel alleged that the mother of the child took him from the family’s Dubai residence without the petitioner’s knowledge. He further apprised the Apex Court about a Dubai court order imposing travel ban on the child.
The top court of the country took exception to the order and observed that this was a case, wherein the wife was virtually being kept in solitary confinement. The husband secured an order from a Dubai court because those courts were well-known for passing these kind of atrocious orders.
Calling it a complete violation of human rights, the Apex Court said that any court believing firmly in human and civil rights would not pass such an order restraining the child from moving out of this place.
This amounted to confining a person or putting him in jail in the residence. This was known as house arrest. A court could not pass an order of solitary confinement without somebody being proven guilty. Such an order could not be followed in this country.
The Bench, however, issued limited notice to the extent of granting visitation rights and other ancillary reliefs.