The Centre has constituted a 13-member Committee comprising judges, lawyers, and academicians to explore the possibility of having a law for protecting the interest of children caught in inter-country custody battles as a result of failed marriages.
At present, India is a safe refuge for NRI parents who “remove” a child from the lawful custody of their spouse and sometimes, in violation of the order passed by a court where the child is living. This is because India is not a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1983. India's avoidance to bring a law on the lines of the Convention too has failed to come through despite the law Commission of India recommending in its favour and a draft law titled The International Child Removal and Retention Bill, 2016 pending consideration with the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry.
The formation of the Committee by an order issued on May 18, 2017 is a significant step in this direction as the WCD Ministry has entrusted the Committee with the task to examine the pros and cons involved in enacting a law by interacting with spouses who are victims of such cases. The Committee is headed by Justice Rajesh Bindal, head of Chandigarh Judicial Academy and comprises of two sitting lady judges, a former HC judge, representatives from Centre and National Commission for Women. There is one lawyer in the team - Anil Malhotra who has done thorough research in the field of trans-national child abduction cases and has several books in his name.
It's a fact that Indian Diaspora abroad is one of the largest among other countries. The concept note prepared by the Committee said, “…the issue of getting the child back from the foreign land assumes importance, in the process of redressing the grievance of the left behind spouse. In such cases, the signatory countries of the Hague Convention can avail access to the Central authorities of the other contracting states to resolve such issues.” In the case of India this will be possible only if India signs the Convention or enacts a law incorporating the provisions of the Convention.