JUDGMENT :

P.N. Prakash, J.

(Prayer: Habeas Corpus Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to direct the ninth respondent, viz., the Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore City, Tamil Nadu, to produce the bodies of respondents 1 to 3 before this Court by removing them from the custody of the fourth and fifth respondents, for their due safe return to the United States of America, since they are the citizens of the said country.)

1. This is a petition for habeas corpus filed by the father seeking the return of his two minor children to the United States of America. For the sake of convenience, Girish Arunagiri, the petitioner herein and Mahalakshmi Senthil Nathan, the first respondent herein, who are spouses, will be referred to as Arunagiri and Mahalakshmi, respectively.

2. The minimum uncontroverted facts that resulted in the dispute betwixt the spouses, viz., Arunagiri and Mahalakshmi, qua custody of their two daughters, viz., Shakthi Girish and Sharadha Girish, are as under:

2.1 Arunagiri’s father and Mahalakshmi’s father are leading orthopaedic surgeons in Tamil Nadu. After completing his higher education in the United States, Arunagiri was gainfully employed there