The filmmaker is required by the Bombay High Court to provide the Pakistani court petition filed by his wife.
Mushtaq Nadiadwala, a filmmaker, has petitioned the Bombay High Court to have at least his Indian minor children brought back from Pakistan.
Ankush Pandey
The Bollywood filmmaker Mushtaq Nadiadwala has been ordered by the Bombay High Court to produce the petition that his wife filed in a Pakistani court asking for guardianship rights over their two children. The seat of Judges Revati Mohite Dere and Sharmila Deshmukh has likewise requested that Nadiadwala produce any requests that have been passed for the situation.
During the lockdown, Nadiadwala's Pakistani wife, who was staying with him, left with her two children to visit her family. She never came back. Nadiadwala requested that at least his Indian-born minor children be returned in a petition to the Bombay High Court.
Advocate Beni Chatterji, who represented Nadiadwala at the hearing on Tuesday, cited the order from September 21, 2022, directing the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to record a status report on the Union's efforts to bring the minor children back from Pakistan.
Advocate Ashish Chavan, who represented the Centre, stated that a comprehensive report had been filed some time ago, which stated that the Indian side had sent four communications to their Pakistani counterparts. "To which you have not received any response," the bench stated after reading the report.
On the other hand, Chatterji stated, "It is their (the Union government's) duty to bring the children back." They are, after all, citizens of India. This is a poor response. They can't say they're helpless. To demonstrate how the Indian Embassy and the American Embassy operate, he cited some judgments. While our embassy is writing letters, they immediately left," Chatterji stated.
"Here, there is something more to it," Chavan remarked. A guardianship petition has been filed there. The child's legal guardian is the mother.
Chatterji responded that a lawyer had been appointed when the bench asked him what orders had been issued in the Lahore court regarding the petition there.
The bench responded, "So her address must be in the petition." Why isn't the attorney there helping you? Request that it be sent by your Lahore attorney. You can't help them in any other way than that. Did you initially provide them with the wife's address?
"They are changing addresses," was Chatterji's response. We only received their new address today.
"You must provide assistance. After that, we can also assist. You should cross your most memorable obstacle. You first provide your current address. There, you need to ask your lawyer for the petition. We will check to see what the Lahore court has ordered. Then we can give the ministry the right instructions."
Chavan, as well, added, "We might likewise want to see the request as the pondering is now happening there."
"Can you issue a notice to the Pakistan High Commission?" asked Chatterji at the conclusion. They signed the petition as a party. However, the bench stated that it would investigate the matter next week.
