KOCHI: Before it allowed a habeas corpus petition filed by a mother seeking custody of her five-and-half-year old- son, the Kerala High Court saw it fit to quote the lines from a song starring Rajnikanth. Amma endrazhaikatha uyir illaiye; ammavai vanangatha uyir illaiye (There’s no life form that doesn’t call for its mother, there’s no life form that doesn’t respect its mother), the song from the superhit movie Mannan, was quoted by the court before it passed its verdict on the petition filed by the mother. The petitioner submitted her husband divorced her on November 11, 2014, by pronouncing talaq in the presence of the local mosque representatives.
“It was agreed the father will have interim custody of the child for five days over four months, while the petitioner’s parents will be permitted to see the child once a month,” submitted the woman. She alleged her husband’s parents took away her son. She lodged a police complaint and a case of abduction was registered at the Kulathupuzha police station. The High Court said the child was forcefully removed from his mother’s custody without any court order.
“The welfare of the child, a minor, is paramount and a decision regarding it can be taken only by the Family Court,” said the HC, adding the child’s custody should be restored to his mother leaving open the remedy of the parties to move the Family Court. “The child has been, after all, staying with his mother and studying in a school nearby since his parents got separated,” said the court. It also cited words of Cardinal Mermillod: ‘A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.” It also held that the petition filed by the boy’s paternal grandparents alleging police harassment was a misuse of the writ jurisdiction of the court.