Norway case: HC gives custody of children to mother

The Calcutta high court, in an interim order, on Thursday allowed mother Sagarika Bhattacharya to take custody of her two children, who were entrusted to the care of their uncle by a Norway court.

The court observed that the manner in which Sagarika took her two children, Abhigyan and Aishwarya from their uncle, Arunabhash Bhattacharya, was not desired, but it had to follow the law which acknowledged that the mother was the natural guardian.

It also observed that the uncle of the two children, who were not present in court, took proper care of them and could meet them once a week.

Justice Dipankar Dutta asked the parents to get proper psychiatric treatment for Abhigyan after finding some abnormality in him and to inform the court accordingly.

The two children, who returned from Norway on April 24 last year and were in the fostercare of their uncle at Kulti in Burdwan district, had been given to the mother by the Burdwan district administration on January 8 after seeking legal counsel.

The high court, on the same day, had directed that the order of the Norway court entrusting the children to the fostercare of their uncle should be upheld.

The police, however, had subsequently been unable to find the children and had told the court so on Wednesday. The mother and children had subsequently appeared in court and had been heard in-camera alongwith family members and their lawyers.

The mother was living at her father's residence in Birati in North 24 Parganas after leaving Norway on March 20 last year. Her husband Anurup was in Norway. Sagarika, however, said on Thursday that she was not opposed to staying with her husband if he returned to India.