Hand over child to Polish mother, SC to Sirmaur school

R Sedhuraman

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Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, August 22

The Supreme Court today directed Akal Academy, a boarding school in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, to hand over 9-year-old student Julia to her mother Beata, a Polish citizen living in the United Kingdom.

The child had been abducted by her natural father Amarjit Singh, who had an adulterous relationship with Beata in the UK, and admitted to the school in December 2012 when she was six years old.

Beata Agnieszka Sobieraj fought a legal battle since then to get the custody of her daughter. Singh was arrested in the UK on March 15, 2013, and sentenced to three years in jail in November 2015 for the crime. The Himachal Pradesh High Court had refused to entertain Beata’s plea for the custody of her daughter, prompting her to approach the apex court.

In today’s order, a Bench comprising Justices Jagdish Singh Khehar and Arun Mishra ruled that there was no justification in the HC ruling, based on an assurance by the school that it would look after the child free of cost.

“The handing over of custody to an institution, while ignoring the claim of a parent, especially the mother of the child, is not acceptable,” the SC Bench held.

Advocate Pritpal Nijjar had argued for the petitioner at the instance of a UK-based charity, Reunite, specialising in the movement of children across international borders. The Indian government also took time to grant approval for sending the child back to the UK, Nijjar said.