IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/SPECIAL CRIMINAL APPLICATION (HABEAS CORPUS) NO.

10646 of 2025 ==========================================================

ALMAS W/O RIZWAN DASTGIR SHAIKH D/O JAMIL AHMED ANSARI Versus STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.

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Appearance:

SALMAN S KHAN(9496) for the Applicant(s) No. 1 DS AFF.NOT FILED (N) for the Respondent(s) No. 2 MR KUNAL P CHANDIRAMANI(10152) for the Respondent(s) No. 3,4,5 MR PRANAV DHAGAT, ADDL. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for the Respondent(s) No. 1 ==========================================================

CORAM:HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.S.SANJAY GOWDA and HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE D. M. VYAS Date : 12/12/2025

ORAL ORDER

(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.S.SANJAY GOWDA)

1. The petitioner has filed this petition contending that the custody of her children be secured and be handed over to her since they have been illegally detained by her husband, her brother-in-law and her sister-in-law.

2. It is her case that her marriage was solemnized on 06.09.2019 and out of this wedlock, they had two children namely Mohammad Hamdan who is aged about 4 years and Mohammad Yahya who is aged about 22 months as of now. She has stated that she spent some time in her matrimonial home in Kolhapur but due to some financial issue and in order to secure better job opportunities, she and her husband shifted to Ahmedabad from Kolhapur. It is stated that even though they have shifted to Ahmedabad, her husband used to go Kolhapur for at least 10 to 15 days every two months.

3. She has thereafter stated that the marriage ran into difficulties and she and her family members in fact extended monetary support to her husband but the same was wasted and he did not mend his ways.

4. She submits that she requested her husband to return to Kolhapur and hand over custody of her children but this was not acceded to. She also states that the he quit his job as a result of which, the employer had in fact sent a letter to him about his absenteeism. She also alleges that he had taken a loan in her name and had failed to repay the same. She thereafter contends that her two minor children were abducted and her husband refused to hand over the custody.

5. On notice being ordered, the husband had entered his appearance and filed an affidavit-in-reply. In this affidavit, the husband, while denying all the contentions raised by the wife, states that he had issued a legal notice on 27.01.2025 seeking for restitution of conjugal rights and thereafter, a sulahnama dated 30.01.2025 was entered into.

6. Learned Counsel for the petitioner does not dispute the fact that under this sulehnama, the temporary custody of the minor children were to be handed over to the wife and the husband had also undertaken to search for house in Ahmedabad and shift to Ahmedabad.

7. It is thereafter stated that in the month of March, 2025, the husband came to Ahmedabad along with elder son and stayed with the petitioner. It is stated that an attempt was made by the husband to abide by the terms of the sulahnama and secure rented accommodation but there was no reciprocal support from the wife. It is also stated that on 28.04.2025, the husband and wife travelled back to the Kolhapur along with the elder child to visit the younger child, who was in Kolhapur. It is therefore contended that the custody of the minor children were lawfully with the husband and therefore this petition seeking for issuance of writ habeas corpus on the premise that the children were illegally confined cannot be accepted.

8. This Court, after interacting with the couple, passed an order on 18.08.2025 after noticing that the elder son who is aged four years was comfortable with the mother and therefore his custody should be handed over to her as an interim arrangement.

9. This Court also relegated the parties to the mediation center and accordingly, a mediation was conducted into which resulted in a memorandum of settlement being entered into on 12.09.2025