Film maker to contact MEA for getting his children back from Pakistan: HC

Mumbai: The central government on Monday informed the Bombay high court that the Bollywood film maker who had filed a habeas corpus petition for securing the presence of his children who are allegedly detained by his wife and in-laws in Lahore in Pakistan, has been provided a contact in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) so that he may raise his concerns about the safety and wellbeing of his children

Mumbai: The central government on Monday informed the Bombay high court that the Bollywood film maker who had filed a habeas corpus petition for securing the presence of his children who are allegedly detained by his wife and in-laws in Lahore in Pakistan, has been provided a contact in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) so that he may raise his concerns about the safety and wellbeing of his children. The court accepted the same and posted the filmmaker’s plea for further hearing on September 12.

The division bench of justice Nitin Jamdar and justice N R Borkar while hearing the petition of the film maker was informed by senior advocate B M Chatterji that his client was concerned about the safety and return to India of his minor children aged 6 and 9 years who were allegedly illegally detained in Pakistan by his wife (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

The division bench of justice Nitin Jamdar and justice N R Borkar while hearing the petition of the film maker was informed by senior advocate B M Chatterji that his client was concerned about the safety and return to India of his minor children aged 6 and 9 years who were allegedly illegally detained in Pakistan by his wife.

The HC bench in a previous hearing on August 18 had directed the MEA to respond to the petition. On Monday additional solicitor general Anil Singh for MEA informed the bench that the situation was a peculiar one and hence it needed time to file an affidavit.

After the court suggested that the ministry should keep the petitioner father informed about the progress of his plea, Singh informed the bench that the Joint Secretary of the MEA’s Chief Passport and Visa department would give an audience to the filmmaker and explain to him about the procedure adopted by the government in such cases. The court accepted the statement and posted hearing of the petition to September 12.

The petition has alleged that his wife was either brainwashed or coerced into staying back in Pakistan with her children and if that was the case the Indian government should take steps for the safety and well-being of his children and wife. He also sought tracing his children whose whereabouts were not known to him and to take them in the custody of the Indian high commission in Pakistan till their safe return to India.

The filmmaker also submitted that his father had been very attached to the grandchildren and hence was aggrieved which resulted in his death on August 22, hence steps should be taken to reunite him with his children.