The welfare of the child remains paramount in custody decisions, requiring a balance between parental rights and the need for stability in the child's living and educational environment.

ORDER :

1. This Original petition has been filed by the petitioner to appoint her as the legal guardian of the person of the minor child namely Nathen Alex and to grant permanent custody of the child to the petitioner.

2. The case of the petitioner is that the petitioner and the respondent are the wife and husband and their marriage was solemnized in the year 2007 as per the Christian rites. After their marriage, they lived at Ekkattuthangal, Guindy, Chennai and due to wedlock, a male child namely Nathen Alex was born to them on 10.09.2009. Thereafter, the respondent moved to Doha, Qatar in the year 2010-2011. From the year 2012 to 2014, both the petitioner and the respondent lived in a small apartment in Doha. Thereafter, the petitioner got a job in Oil and Gas company and thereafter, slowly the respondent’s sister entered into the petitioner’s family, which resulted in serious matrimonial dispute among the petitioner and the respondent. The respondent lived in Doha at a resident visa and the petitioner lived on a dependent visa in the month of February 2020. The respondent refused to renew the petitioner’s visa and she lost her job and she was under house arrest in Doha. The respondent would take the child away for the whole day and would not tell where he is going and she could not communicate to her parents and she was illegally resided in Doha for almost 6 months and thereafter, with the help of her brother, she filed a petition for divorce and obtained divorce from a Family Court, Qatar on 23.09.2022.

2.1. On 06.06.2022, the respondent father filed a petition for custody of the child in the Family Court, Doha, Qatar and the Qatar Court gave him the custody of the child and again the petitioner approached the Family Court, Qatar for getting back the custody of the child and the Family Court, Qatar allowed her for 10 days exclusive custody on every two months. She had got into a state of deep distress by the end of 2022 due to the fact that the child was taken away from her and she could not interact with him. Now the petitioner came to know that the respondent winded up his business in Doha and he came back to India permanently with her minor son. However, he does not allow her to see and spend time with her son. The child along with his parents lastly resided in Chennai. The respondent has no job and he is depending on his father and now he is residing in Kerala. The petitioner is now living in Chennai and she is currently well employed in Greenfield Chennai International School as the Director and she is in sound financial state to take care of her son and can provide for him. The child is not being personally taken care by the respondent, who has heavily indebted in Doha, Qatar and living absconding life. Therefore, the custody of the minor child has to be given to the petitioner and she has to be appointed as guardian for the minor child.

3. The case of the respondent is that he denies all the allegations contained in the petition except those that are specifically admitted through the counter. This petition is liable to be dismissed on the ground that the petition is misconceived and bad in law. The petitioner has not come to the Court with clean hands. The marriage between the parties and a son born to them, are admitted. The respondent came along with his son to India from Doha, Qatar and settled in his native place at Kerala and now the child is studying in IX Standard at Choice Shool, Thiruvalla and the respondent has no intention to remove his son from the jurisdiction of the Court. The allegation that the petitioner’s father