High Court raps CWC Chairperson over child custody

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: During the hearing of a case regarding the handing over of the custody of two minor girl children, the Karnataka High Court directed the state government to initiate an inquiry and appropriate action against the Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in the city.

This came after a woman, Rehana Begum, approached the court following a harrowing experience when her two minor children aged 9 years and 4 years were taken away by the Chandra Layout Police and produced before the Bangalore District Child Welfare Committee (1) presided over by Nagarathna.

It was said that with the concurrence of other members of the committee, the Chairperson had handed over the custody of both the children to Maqdumsab, Rehana's estranged husband who had abandoned her four years back.

The woman filed a habeas corpus writ petition before the High Court and bench consisting of Justice K Somashekhar and Justice Rajesh Rai directed the Police Commissioner to secure the presence of all concerned before the court.

The Bench then questioned the power of the CWC in handing over custody of the children to either parent and Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Belliappa informed the court that CWC vested with such powers.

P Usman along with Mohammed Niyas, Advocates appearing for the mother pleaded for restoration of the custody of the children to the mother and while doing so, the court came down very heavily on the CWC for its illegal act.

Though Nagarathna tendered an unconditional apology, the Bench directed the state government to take action against CWC chairperson Nagarathna if it was found that she had misused power.