Plea of Indian father in US for kids’ custody rejected
According to the petitioner, due to the matrimonial dispute he got separated from his wife Nithya. After their separation, Nithya returned to India with their two children and settled in Chennai.
Madras High Court (File)
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has rejected the plea of an American-Indian father living in the US for custody of his children holding US citizenship living in India.
The petitioner Venkatasubramanian Ravichandran, who lives in the US, moved the Madras High Court (MHC) seeking to grant interim custody of his two children who are now living with their mother in India. According to the petitioner, due to the matrimonial dispute he got separated from his wife Nithya. After their separation, Nithya returned to India with their two children and settled in Chennai. Now the petitioner is seeking custody of the children who are US citizens by birth.
The case was listed before Justice RN Manjula at the Madras High Court. After hearing the submissions, the judge observed that shifting the minor children all of a sudden in the name of interim custody would cause imbalance to their life and disrupt the convenience being enjoyed by the children by remaining in India.
“Since the welfare of children is the paramount consideration in deciding their custody, this court is unable to accommodate the prayer made by the petitioner,” observed the judge. The petitioner has no difficulty to meet the children whenever he comes to India and the children also do not suffer from any parental alienation, wrote the judge and dismissed the petition.