आला‍बाग हाई कोर्ट ने कहा: वयस्क बेटी को माता के साथ रहने के लिए बाध्य नहीं किया जा सकता

Adult daughter can't be forced to live with parents: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court refused a mother's plea to bring back her adult daughter. The ruling reaffirmed that a major woman can choose her residence and company.

The Allahabad High Court has said that parents cannot use a habeas corpus petition to compel an adult daughter to live with them against her wishes. Dismissing a petition filed by a woman seeking the production of her 25-year-old daughter, the court said an adult is free to choose where and with whom she wants to live.

In an order dated September 28, Justice Sandeep Jain said, "A major cannot be compelled, against her expressed will to reside with a particular person merely because such person happens to be her parent." The court held that the daughter, being a major and a competent person, would remain free to live at a place, and with a person, of her choice.

The petition had been filed by Kalawati Devi, who sought directions for the production of her daughter, Kumari Pooja, before the high court. On August 17, the court directed the state to produce her, and she was later brought before the court in compliance with that order.

During her interaction with the court, Pooja said she was living independently in Delhi of her own volition and was not in any illegal or unlawful detention. She also said she did not want to live with her mother, alleging that her mother's conduct towards her had not been cordial and that she had frequently faced assault and abuse at her parental home. Her mother denied these allegations and said she wanted her daughter to live with her at the parental home.

After interacting with Pooja and considering her statement, the court held that she was an adult and had consciously and voluntarily expressed her unwillingness to live with her mother. It then dismissed the habeas corpus petition, reiterating that an adult cannot be forced to live with a parent against her will.

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