Madras High Court orders woman locked in matrimonial feud with husband to cooperate for daughter’s trip to NASA

Arguments

The father, who had custody of the minor child, filed this plea to seek the signature of his estranged wife for their minor daughter’s passport application, who had allegedly got a chance to visit NASA and was interested in space science. The father emphasised that to get the passport and visa, the signatures of both parents were essential, and the mother refused to sign it.

The court directed the minor’s mother to cooperate and sign the minor’s passport and visa application.
In an order on December 5, the court noted that there was a matrimonial dispute between the minor’s father and the mother, and the minor child was currently under the former’s custody.

The father submitted that the minor’s school authorities had sent a circular calling the parents, who had registered their child’s names for the NASA tour, to confirm their participation.

However, the minor’s mother refused to sign the passport application, he claimed.

The mother opposed the father’s submissions, arguing that her daughter was not “capable” to go to NASA and was not in a “position to manage herself.”

The advocates of both the parents also sought to get the child’s name mentioned correctly in the court order passed on December 5, when the court asked the mother to cooperate.

The high court directed the registry to issue a fresh copy of the order with the correct name of the minor in the order passed on December 10.