Don’t want half-baked assurances: Bombay High Court to External Affairs Ministry in plea to track film producer's kids

While dealing with a habeas corpus petition filed by a film producer seeking the safe return of his wife and children from Pakistan to India, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday rapped the Union Ministry of External Affairs for not giving its very best..The Bench was informed by the Ministry today that it was taking efforts to locate the wife and children of producer Mushtaq Nadiadwala, who even met with the Additional Secretary of the Overseas Indian Affairs department of the Ministry.The minutes of the meeting state that since there was no Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Pakistan, the Indian government could not find the whereabouts of his wife and children.The Ministry had also written to the High Commission of India in Islamabad, the response to which was awaited, Advocate Ashish Chavan for the Ministry added..However, the Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and PK Chavan was not pleased with the efforts made by the Ministry."We want 100% done by Ministry and we are not getting that comfort from you. If we are ourselves not convinced, then what about the petitioner? Don't give us half-baked assurances and lip service. What we expect to hear from you (Ministry) is that you will do everything that it possible to bring the children back,” the Bench stated..During an earlier hearing, the Bench had admonished the Ministry for not taking concrete steps towards tracking the children and the wife..The plea by Nadiadwala sought directions to the Ministry to facilitate the safe return of his children, who he claimed were illegally detained in Lahore by his Pakistani wife and her parents since 2020.Nadiadwala also prayed that in the event his wife is coerced to continue her stay in Lahore, she should also be safely brought back to India.The producer claimed that his wife refused to return to India and did not provide any plausible reasons for deserting him. The plea pointed out that he got married to his wife in 2012 in Pakistan, and after coming to India, she applied for Indian citizenship. In November 2020, his wife left for Pakistan with their two children, and three months later, even filed a plea in a Lahore court seeking to be appointed as the lawful guardian of the two children, which was granted.