Gujarat: Man approaches HC seeking girlfriend's custody from her husband

In an unusual incident, a man from Gujarat filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court seeking the custody of his girlfriend from her husband. 

Court fined him Rs 5,000 as it observed that the petitioner has no locus standi in the matter. This case is from Banaskantha district. She was married off to another person against her will, and the couple did not get along well. The woman left her husband and matrimonial home and came to live with him.

The man filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court for his girlfriend. He submitted that the woman was in illegal custody of her husband, Times of India reported.

The state government opposed the petition, arguing that the man had no locus standi to file such a petition. If the woman is in the custody of her husband, it cannot be said that she is in illegal custody.

After hearing the case, the justices V M Pancholi and H M Prachchhak's bench stated that the woman's marriage to the petitioner had not yet been solemnised and that she had not yet obtained a divorce from her husband.