Dhanwanti Joshi vs Madhav Unde on 4 November, 1997
10. It is submitted by the learned Counsel for the respondent that it is not a
case where the child has been stealthily removed from the jurisdiction of US Court and
brought to India. It was submitted that the child stayed in India with the consent of
petitioner and since the child is now for more than 1 ½ years in Delhi, the child should
not be sent back to USA since the child had settled in new environment. He relied upon
Dhanwanti Joshi v. Madhav Unde (1998) 1 SSC 112. As already observed by me, that
this Court is not deciding issue as to who should have custody of the child so as to
consider what the welfare of the child is. The Court is deciding basic issue whether a
petition filed under such circumstances would be entertainable by the Court in Delhi or
not. The issue - to whom the custody of the child should be given, whether the child
should live in Delhi with the mother or the child custody should be there with the father in
USA - are not germane to the issue of jurisdiction. These issues would be decided by
the Court who has jurisdiction to decide the issue of the custody of the child, whether it is
US Court or Delhi Court.