HC allows ‘flight risk’ woman, son to travel to Singapore

Bombay HC permits a woman, labeled a flight risk by her ex-husband, to travel to Singapore with their son, ensuring travel documents are released.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday allowed a woman, termed as a flight risk by her ex-husband, to travel to Singapore with her son, to meet his grandparents. A vacation bench of justice Somashekhar Sunderesan, while hearing a plea by the man seeking to restrain his ex-wife and their son - both Singaporean citizens - allowed the mother-son duo to travel to Singapore.

HC allows ‘flight risk’ woman, son to travel to Singapore

The ex-husband, who had separated from his wife by a mutual agreement upheld by the Supreme Court in July 2022, alleged that the travel, despite being permitted by a family court in Mumbai, was against the agreement. The mother-son duo’s travel plan was also subject to a Supreme Court hearing, where the court held that it was not the appropriate forum for the matter.

The ex-husband contended before the Bombay high court that the mother was a ‘flight-risk’ since she was a citizen of Singapore, and that if the child did not return to India, it would jeopardise his access to him.

Senior advocate Abad Ponda, appearing on behalf of the father, told the court that the filings with the Singapore emigration pointed to the possibility of the mother-son duo not returning to India.

Advocate Mrunalini Deshmukh, who represented the woman, however submitted that the mother had filed an undertaking that she and her son would return to India in January. Deshmukh also told the court that as per the agreement between the parties, the passport and other travel documents of the son, held in a joint account by the ex-couple, were ordered to be released by the family court but were not being released by the ex-husband.

The court, while directing the release of the travel documents, observed that under the mutual agreement, it was the responsibility of the ex-husband to remain present and ensure the travel documents of the son were accessible to the mother and failure to do so had frustrated the mutual agreement.