Gujarat HC hands over teen girl’s custody to father in habeas corpus plea

Date:

2 min readVadodaraMar 2, 2026 08:39 PM IST

THE GUJARAT High Court (HC) has directed a man from Gandhinagar to file an undertaking that he will “not make any attempts” to get his teenage daughter married to a person of “his choice” after she turns of marriageable age. The HC disposed of a habeas corpus petition and handed over the custody of the 17-year-old girl to her parents.

A Division Bench of Justices N S S Gowda and D M Vyas in a judgment delivered on Friday noted that the corpus – daughter of the petitioner – chose to return to her parents when she was presented before the court by the Gandhinagar police. According to the petitioner, his daughter had been in the “illegal confinement” of six respondents, following her “abduction”.

A complaint was registered in the matter at a police station in Gandhinagar district. When the habeas corpus petition was moved in the case, the court issued notice to the state.

‘Affidavit’ to ensure no attempts at forceful marriage: Court

After the police secured the presence of the girl before the court, the judges interacted with her in-chamber. In a judgment on Friday, the court said, “In view of the fact that she is a minor and has expressed her desire to go with her parents, we deem it appropriate to entrust custody to her parents… We also direct the petitioner to file an affidavit of undertaking that he will not make any attempts to get (the corpus) married to any person of his choice after she turns 18 years of age.”
The petitioner has been directed to file the affidavit within a period of two weeks.

Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.

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