Dubai court upholds Indian judiciary’s decision to grant child’s custody to mother

Court hearings in Dubai have been halted as part of efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus. Courtesy: AFP

A Dubai court has upheld an Indian court’s ruling on granting full custody of a child to the mother after the father brought their two-year-old daughter to the UAE without her mother's knowledge.

The Indian court's verdict was approved by the Dubai Civil Court a few days after the father, a Dubai resident, filed for divorce and custody of the child.

The Indian court passed its judgement in favour of the mother in September 2019.

The mother, 37, who lives in India, alleged that the father brought the child to the UAE after he obtained a passport without her knowledge.

The husband, 41, filed a case with Dubai Personal Status Court against his wife seeking divorce and custody of their daughter.

The mother’s lawyer, Awatif Mohammad Khouri, requested the court in Dubai to dismiss the case due to lack of jurisdiction in accordance with Article 6 of the UAE’s Federal Personal Status Law number 28 of 2005.

After the emirate’s Personal Status Court dismissed the case on February 20, the mother’s lawyer filed an application at the Dubai Civil Courts seeking full custody of the child by upholding the Indian court’s ruling based on the treaty signed between the two countries.

The Indian government had issued a gazette notification last month that foreign civil judgments passed by courts in the UAE can now be executed in Indian courts since the UAE has been declared as a reciprocating country.

The approval of the Indian court’s judgement by the Dubai Civil Court is pending enforcement.

The husband has appealed against the sentence issued by Dubai’s Personal Status Court and a judgement will be passed on March 8.