Custody battle for son: Supreme Court orders arrest of father who left for US without his passport

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh appearing for the father Manish Chhokar tried to reason with the bench that with the mother also in India, there was a legitimate fear of the Child Protective Services (CPS) taking the boy and placing him in foster care considering it a case of abandonment of the child, but to no avail.

Singh said that the father, a Green Card holder, “had done everything possible to transfer the custody of the child, and it was only because of” the former wife’s “non-cooperation/ non-appearance in the Michigan Court that the transfer had not taken place”.

The counsel said that the child’s health had started showing signs of deterioration recently and this worried his second wife who was taking care of him. Worried by the child’s condition, she independently contacted the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and applied for an emergency Travel Document for him. The Travel Document was issued in favour of Manish Chhokar by USCIS on November 26, 2024.

The couple were married in February 2006 and later moved to the US. However, the couple had a marital discord and the husband obtained a divorce decree on September 9, 2017, from the Circuit Court for the County of Oakland Family Division, Michigan, USA.

The lady had also initiated multiple proceedings against Chhokar in India, but much later a settlement was reached between the parties before the SC on October 21, 2019. One of the grounds for settlement was that he shall give the custody of the child to the mother.

When this did not happen, she initiated contempt of court proceedings against Chhokar. The SC framed charges against him on September 9, 2024.

In its order Wednesday, the SC said Chhokar appeared before it virtually on December 13, 2022. It said that by order dated January 17, 2024, he was asked to remain present in the Court in all proceedings.

The bench added that previous orders of the court on the matter “would indicate there were several attempts to resolve the matter, as it was a matter of child custody where this Court went out of its way in granting indulgence to the respondent (father) in hope that he would handover the child to his mother and honour the terms of his settlement, which were a part of the order of this Court. All the same, all efforts of this Court went in vain.”

“On the last hearing of this matter i.e. 22.01.2025, the alleged contemnor/respondent was not present in the Court which was in violation of the order of this Court, when a statement was made by MrVikas Singh, learned senior counsel representing him that he shall be present on the next date of listing…Today, we have been informed by none other but the learned senior counsel Mr Vikas Singh…that the alleged contemnor/respondent had left for USA,” the court pointed out.