Mumbai: The Bombay high court recently refused to hand over a three-year-old girl to her father, an Iranian national, after her surrogate mother questioned his character during her interaction with the judges. The Iranian man had married the girl’s surrogate mother after her birth but the couple divorced subsequently. The HC was hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by the father in 2015, seeking directions for the Thane police to trace his daughter after she was taken away by the surrogate mother after divorce.

According to the petitioner, he married the woman after she gave birth through surrogacy and later divorced her but she took away his daughter despite the family court order giving him custody. The court will continue hearing the petition in June.