The Bombay high court on September 12 took the Centre to task for not taking steps to help a well-known and veteran Bollywood producer’s son who has alleged that his two minor kids have been detained in Pakistan after they went there with his wife. The veteran Bollywood producer passed away recently.
“Don’t make him run from pillar to post within the external affairs ministry (MEA) itself,” Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said on the man’s habeas corpus petition.
The producer’s son had married a Pakistani woman in April 2012. On November 26, 2020, she took the children from India to Lahore and has not returned since. The man has since been trying hard to establish contact with his children but to no avail. On August 29, 2022, the Centre said that the man could meet the joint secretary of the MEA’s chief passport and visa office to understand the steps it takes in such matters. The man’s advocate told the court that he received a reply that the matter pertained to the Overseas Indian affairs division. He was still to hear from it.
The high court chided the Centre’s advocate when he said, he would write to the MEA to expeditiously deal with the matter. The court said, he must instead use the phone and see to it that the issue was resolved. The high court also told the Centre’s advocate to find a number or email id to enable the man to communicate with his children.