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Synopsis

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, in a recent ruling, has refused to grant the custody of a minor girl to her parents who filed a Habeas Corpus plea, the court made the decision after the girl expressed her desire before the court to not go with her parents.

The court, presided over by Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice Gajendra Singh, delivered the verdict on the petition filed by the parents of the girl who were alarmed by the absence of their daughter, expressing concerns regarding her potential illegal confinement by an unidentified individual.

The girl, identified as Manju, was found in Bheelwada, Rajasthan, and brought before the court by Constables from Ravati Police Station, District - Ratlam.

During the proceedings, Manju revealed that she had fled her home without parental consent, accompanied by a person named Mohan. Although she claimed to be 17 years old, official records indicated her age as 15 years & 09 months. The court noted that “She has further stated that she would not like to go with her parents.”

Considering the circumstances, the court determined that “In such situation, the corpus comes under the category of 'child in need of care and protection', therefore, the corpus (Manju) is liable to be produced before the Child Welfare Committee constituted under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015, situated at Ratlam.”

Furthermore, the court directed the state authorities (respondents) to accommodate the minor girl in the One Stop Centre in Ratlam and ensure she receives necessary medical attention.

Following this, the court directed “the corpus be produced before the Child Welfare Committee on any working days as soon as possible, so that further necessary directions may be issued by the Child Welfare Committee.”

With these directives, the writ petition was deemed disposed of by the court.

 

Cause Title: Jivla v State of MP [WP No. 9177 OF 2024]