The Delhi High Court has allowed a mother to travel to the United States with her minor son so she can complete her post-graduate course, while carefully reshaping the father’s visitation rights to keep the child connected to both parents. Justice Saurabh Banerjee delivered the decision after hearing both sides at length in a long-running custody dispute.
Background of the Case
The parents married in 2014 and their son was born in 2017. After marital differences, the mother left the matrimonial home in 2019 with the child. Several cases followed. A Family Court order in January 2023 gave the father visitation rights, which were later modified by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
In 2024, the mother went to the US after securing admission to a Master’s programme at Marymount University in Virginia, without prior court permission. That move led the father to file a habeas corpus petition. The Supreme Court later allowed regular visitation and gave the mother liberty to seek permission to travel abroad again. Based on that liberty, she returned to court seeking approval to take the child with her to finish her studies.
The mother told the court that her course runs for several semesters and she has already completed one with good grades. She said her parents are funding the education and that stopping her now would cancel her admission and waste the money already spent.
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Her lawyer stressed that the purpose of the course is to improve her skills and future income so she can provide a stable life for the child. The court was told the child could continue schooling in the US, and that the mother is ready to follow any direction to keep the father in touch with the child.
The father opposed the move. He argued that the child’s welfare comes first and that sending the child abroad would weaken their bond and make court orders hard to enforce. He pointed to past disputes over visitation and said the child is settled in Delhi with school and family support.
His side relied on earlier Supreme Court rulings to say that a parent’s career plans cannot override a child’s need for regular access to both parents.
Court’s Observations
Justice Banerjee said the case must be tested on two ideas together: the child’s welfare and the mother’s right to personal growth. The court noted that the right to life under Article 21 includes the right to education and self-development.
“A mother cannot be compelled to make a choice between her child and her career,” the court observed in substance while discussing earlier Supreme Court guidance.
The judge also recorded that the child has lived with the mother since 2019 and that separating them could harm the child. The court found no proof that the child would suffer by studying abroad, especially since the mother had earlier returned to India when directed. The fear that she would not come back was called speculative.
Decision
The High Court allowed the mother to take the child to the US to complete her post-graduate programme. At the same time, it set clear conditions: she must file an undertaking with her address and school details, ensure regular video calls between the father and the child, bring the child to India during summer and winter vacations for in-person meetings, and return to India after finishing the course. She must also file financial details and a chart of expenses.
With these safeguards, the court said, the balance between the child’s welfare and the mother’s right to study is properly maintained.
The application was disposed of with directions to the authorities to allow travel once the undertakings are filed.
Case Title:-X & Y
Case Number:- CM(M) 159/2023
