In Brief
A mother sought a writ of habeas corpus to recover her two minor children (aged 12 and 8) from their father who had removed them from the USA to India in breach of a US court's shared parenting order. The children were US residents (one a citizen, one a permanent resident) and had been brought up in America. The Supreme Court held that despite India not being a signatory to the Hague Convention, the welfare of the children was paramount. Since both children were ordinarily residents of the USA, accustomed to its culture and educational system, enrolled in specialized schools, and had no roots in India, their repatriation was in their best interest. The Court directed the father to return to the USA with the children and ordered the mother to collect them if visa was denied, overriding comity principles.
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