Domestic violence and the Hague Abduction Convention: the Indian perspective

Abstract

This note seeks to point out India’s objections for acceding to the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. It highlights the drawbacks in the now recommended draft of The Protection of Children (Inter-country Removal and Retention) Bill, 2016. Domestic violence is one of the major causes of parental abductions as seen from the approach of the Indian judiciary. Indeed, the principle of the paramount welfare of child overrides the personal rights of either parent for custody of child. The note rejects the Indian Law Commission’s recommendation of sending the mother to jail if the mother had justifiable grounds to leave the husband and the foreign country. India’s sovereign rights under Section 13 CPC/44 A CPC is not subject to foreign custody/ return orders. India’s accession to The Hague Convention acts as an estoppel to its sovereign rights under the above mentioned provisions of the CPC.