Child Custody — Habeas Corpus, Child Below Five · 13 July 2026
Gurwinder Kaur v. State of Punjab: P&H High Court Orders In-Laws to Return Three-Year-Old Son to Mother, Rejecting Objections Based on Her Pregnancy and Dependence
High Court of Punjab and Haryana · 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 232; CRWP-4952-2026
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The couple married in August 2021, and a son was born on 12 May 2023. The mother said relatives of her husband harassed her for dowry, that her husband, allegedly addicted to drugs, went abroad for work, and that she was forced out of the matrimonial home with the child, returned out of fear after her husband, phoning from Dubai, threatened to have her father and brother killed, and was later driven out again, with the in-laws keeping the child. The in-laws said the child had been admitted to a good school and was well cared for, that the mother's own mother had died leaving no female relative to help her, and that she was pregnant again and could not look after him.
Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi noted that mediation had failed and the child was about three years and two months old, and held that unless the mother is shown to be wholly unsuitable, custody of a child below five ordinarily remains with her. He found nothing on record showing she was unsuitable, as the objections were confined to her pregnancy and financial dependence. The Court allowed the habeas corpus petition and directed the respondents to hand custody to the mother forthwith, with the Senior Superintendent of Police to ensure compliance and file an affidavit within one week.
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