» Story
 
Google Buzz
 
Custody battle: A child's wait for justice
NDTV Correspondent, Friday March 26, 2010, New Delhi

''He misses his friends and his school. He wants to come home,'' pleads Malini Byanna on behalf of her 9-year-old son Tejas, who she saw last in Hyderbad in October 2009.

Five months later, the Supreme Court of India will decide if she can get him back.

Malini, a Chicago-based Indian-American had brought Tejas to Hyderabad to visit his father Vikram Akula, a multibillionaire entrepreneur. Vikram and Malini had separated in 2001.

During this visit in Hyderabad, Malini alleges, Vikram abducted Tejas.

Now both Malini and Vikram are fighting a duel custody battle. One in the Illinois Court that has favoured Malini's custody plea. And the other in a Hyderabad Court that has granted the custody to Vikram.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of India will decide which judgement should prevail.

''I'm waiting for a judgement on jurisdiction from Illinois. And now the Supreme Court will also be deciding on jurisdiction,'' says Malini.

It's a complicated case which not only pits a parent against a parent, but also the court of one nation against another. We hope in this cross-continental battle, Tejas receives justice.

 
 
More »
 
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     
Comments: Read | Post
Tags: Custody battle
Comments
Posted by Anonymous on Mar 28, 2010
After reading this article, I feel the child should be left in the hands of grandparents or other loving caretakers, only giving visitation rights to the mother and father. It looks like this is destroying the life of the child when he is at a young tender age.
Posted by Anonymous on Mar 26, 2010
The mother alleges she took her son to India on a visit during which he was abducted. The father says it was not a visit but relocation of both mother and child, and with the child living in India he went to the Indian courts to get custody and was granted custody. After the Indian courts ruled against the mother, she went to US authorities claiming it was an abduction and asking US courts to ignore the Indian courts and take jurisdiction. According to the mother, she agreed to move her son and herself to India for 1 to 4 years, she leased a house in India for 1 to 4 years, obtained residency permission in India, closed down most of her business in the US, enrolled her son in school in India and had him attending school there, all at the time of the father's filing for custody in India. None of those things sound like a "visit" or a vacation. Those are things you do when you move. If it was a move then India should retain jurisdiction to decide if the father keeps custody or the mother.
Advertisement
Advertisement
On Facebook