Man seeks girlfriend's custody from her hubby, Gujarat HC fines him

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000 on a man who was seeking custody of his girlfriend from her husband on the strength of their live-in agreement.
This case is from Banaskantha district. The man approached the HC and submitted that the woman whose custody he was seeking was in a relationship with him. She was married off to another person against her will, and the couple did not get along well. The woman left her husband and matrimonial home and came to live with him. They stayed together and signed a live-in relationship agreement as well.
After a while, the woman's family and in-laws came and took her back to her husband. The man approached the HC, filing a habeas corpus petition for his girlfriend, contending that she was in illegal custody of her husband and being held against her will. He sought directions to the police to get custody of the woman from her husband and hand her over to him.
The state government opposed the petition, arguing that the man had no locus standi to file such a petition. If the woman is in the custody of her husband, it cannot be said that she is in illegal custody.
After hearing the case, the bench of Justice V M Pancholi and Justice H M Prachchhak said the petitioner's marriage to the woman was not solemnized so far and she was not even divorced from her husband.
"We are, therefore, of the view that custody of respondent No.4 (the woman) with respondent No.5 (her husband) cannot be termed illegal custody as alleged by the petitioner and the petitioner has no locus to file the present petition on the basis of the so-called live-in relationship agreement," they said and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the petitioner, instructing him to deposit the money with the State Legal Services Authority.