New Delhi, Oct 8 A Delhi court has ordered registration of an FIR into allegations that a 30-month-old boy was taken to Australia without his father's consent, directing police to investigate claims of unlawful removal of the child and forgery of the father's signatures on a travel document.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Vikas Madaan directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of Tilak Nagar police station to register the FIR within seven days and investigate the case.
In an order dated October 3, the court said, "This court also finds itself in consonance with the contentions of the leaned counsel. Moreover, the allegations as narrated by the complaint are serious in nature and cognisable in nature which require the field investigation to be conducted by the state machinery as the evidence is beyond the reach of the complainant."
The complaint alleges that the child's mother took him out of India without the father's consent and subsequently removed him from the complainant's custody. It further alleges that the father's signatures were forged on Form-1229, a document used in connection with a child's travel.
The complaint also names the child's maternal grandfather, alleging that he facilitated the child's removal to Australia.
The complainant has also taken up the matter with Australian authorities, including Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, under Section 501 of the Migration Act.
Advocate Monika Verman, appearing for the complainant, submitted that taking a minor across international borders without the consent of the father, based on fabricated documents, is a serious offence.
The court's order came after police submitted an action-taken report stating that no offence had occurred within the jurisdiction of Tilak Nagar police station and that the incident had taken place in Greater Noida.
The complainant's counsel, however, submitted that while the respondent had initially taken the child from Greater Noida with the complainant's permission, she subsequently took him from Tilak Nagar without his consent.
The court said the allegations were "serious in nature and cognisable in nature", and required a field investigation as the evidence was beyond the reach of the complainant.
Allowing the application under BNSS Section 175(3), the court ordered the Tilak Nagar SHO to register the FIR and investigate the matter.
The court also said the complainant could approach it with an application for monitoring the investigation and clarified that the investigating officer could file a cancellation report if no offence was made out.
