Overview
- Family Court Judge S.V. Mansuri granted an interim stay on the child’s initiation planned in Mumbai in February 2026 and required an undertaking that she will not participate.
- The mother filed an affidavit stating the ceremony has been put on hold, following the court’s direction for a formal assurance.
- The father moved the court on December 10 under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, seeking custody and to be appointed legal guardian to stop the initiation.
- The petition alleges the mother left the matrimonial home in April 2024 and took the child to religious ashrams, including occasions when the father says he was denied access; these remain allegations before the court.
- The mother says the process proceeded with the father’s knowledge and showed photos of meetings with a spiritual leader, while the father’s lawyer disputes this as coerced, with the child’s welfare presented as the central concern.