A Division Bench of the Hyderabad High Court comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyothi Sengupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar on Friday restored custody of the grandson of Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao to the mother of the child and directed that the estranged couple have a separate residence for the sake of his medical treatment. They were asked to report to the court by October 8.
The Bench was passing these orders in a writ petition filed by Padmapriya, daughter in-law of Dr. Kodela. She alleged that her husband barged into house of her parents in Vishakhapatnam where she is staying after she fell out with the family of in-laws and kidnapped the child. She alleged that the police aided this kidnap.
The Bench heard the matter on Thursday and ordered the police to produce the child. The child was brought to the court and the mother was given the custody. The Bench retreated into the chambers and interviewed the boy for a while. The feelings of the daughter in-law of Dr. Kodela were ascertained. Her husband said that the child needs treatment for obesity.
The court wondered how the estranged husband can go the house of his in-laws without intimation with outsiders at 8 p.m. He was asked several questions in open court which he could not answer properly. After interviewing the boy in camera, the Bench declared that the boy appears active and normal and is attached to the mother and maternal grandfather.
The Bench took note of the views expressed by the boy’s father and asked him to arrange a separate residence wherein the boy and mother will live and he can visit them. The members of both families were asked to keep off the couple’s relations. The maternal grandfather could come as the boy is attached to him.
