The court emphasized the importance of the welfare of minor children in custody matters, necessitating their return to the jurisdiction where they have lived and received education.

ORDER:

(per Hon’ble Sri Justice Suresh Kumar Kait)

Vide the present petition, the petitioner/husband seeks direction thereby directing the respondents No.1 to 4 to produce minor children Arthin Kodali (DOB – 14.03.2012) and Neysa Sakhmuri Kodali (DOB – 13.10.2014) of the petitioner, who are permanent residents and born citizens of US before this Court from the illegal custody of 5th respondent/wife, and cause return of said minor children, to the jurisdiction of the US in compliance with order dated 22.05.2017 passed by the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Civil Division, USA to enable the minor children to go back to USA and if they fails to do so within the fixed time period, the 5^th respondent be directed to immediately handover the custody of the said minor children to the petitioner to enable him to take minor children back to the jurisdiction of US Court.

2. The brief facts of the case are that :

The petitioner is the husband of 5th respondent who came to the US on 1^st July 2005 and started his residency in Internal Medicine at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Pittsburgh, which was to continue for three years i.e. till June 2008. The 5^th respondent went to US in the year 2004 for her higher studies and she completed Masters Degree in 2006, and thereafter she secured employment with Cytori Therapeutics, San Diego, California, USA in January 2007. The petitioner and 5^th respondent got married on 14th March 2008 in Hyderabad while she was working as a Research Associate at Cytori Therapeutics in San Diego, California. At the time of marriage, the petitioner was completing his residency in Internal Medicine. At that time, the parties after marriage were living at 7070 Forward Ave, Apr.308, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, USA i.e., the matrimonial home. After the 5^th respondent moved to Pittsburgh, she found another job as a Research Associate at Precision Therapeutics in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and worked there till July 2011. For all intents and purposes, after marriage, the matrimonial home of the parties was in Pennsylvania, USA and parties never had any matrimonial home or cohabited as husband and wife at Hyderabad.

3. As stated in the present petition that, the petitioner completed his fellowship in Internal Medicine at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 30^th June 2008. He started his 3 year fellowship in Cardiovascular Diseases, at the above mentioned hospital and completed it on 30^th June 2011. The petitioner joined St.Luke’s University Health Network, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on 1^st July 2011 as a Non-invasive Cardiologist as the employer was willing to sponsor a Permanent Resident Card/Green Card for the petitioner. The respondent quit her job in July 2011 since her employer refused to sponsor a Permanent Resident card/Green card. Therefore, the parties stayed at a rented home at 5227 Chandler Way, Orefield, Pennsylvania USA from July 2011 to January 2016.

4. Minor son Arthin Kodali was born to the parties at Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, USA on 14.3.2012 and has a US passport dated 04.06.2012. The parties on 15.11.2012 secured United States of America Permanent Resident card/Green card from the US citizenship and Immigration Services, as it was always the intention of both parties to reside in USA. The minor son Arthin Kodali was enrolled at Datzyk Montessori School, 3300 Broadway, Allentown, Pennsylvania USA, from September 2014 to 2017. The petitioner and 5^th respondent together also registered and enrolled Arthin Kodali at the same school for the 2017-2018 academic year. In February 2014, w