Norway kids row: Delayed docs may affect custody battle

A delay in preparing crucial documents and a very public marital discord between their parents could mean a  court could postpone its hearing of an appeal to transfer the custody of the two Indian children, presently in foster care, to their uncle.

“There were a lot of documentation required which has not been done so the hearing on Friday would be postponed,” Svein Kjetil Lode Svendsen, legal counsel for the Indian couple, told CNN-IBN.

A Norwegian court was to conduct a hearing on Friday, 23 March in which it was to decide on whether the custody of the Bhattacharya children, three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya, should be transferred to their uncle.

When asked about the reported quarrel between Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, the children’s parents, Svein Svendsen was quoted as saying, “There have been some issues for which we need to sit down together. We are not able to come to a joint solution.”

Anurup, the father of the children, speaking to the Hindu had accused his wife Sagarika of attacking him over the weekend and alleged she had a psychological problem which he had concealed earlier while seeking the custody of his children.

The uncle of the children, Arunabhas Bhattacharya, is presently in Norway and was likely to be handed the custody of the children. But a delay in the submission of crucial transfer of custody documents might mean he may be left waiting for some more time.

The Hindu reported that the deadline to submit the documents was 18 March and had to be valid in an Indian court as well. The legal counsel for the Bhattacharyas was reportedly in talks with a Kolkata-based lawyer to iron out the details of the document.

Arubabhas was quoted as saying that he was prepared to take the children and after bringing them to India would ensure that both children received the mental and physical care they needed.

“What worries me is the [issue of the> transfer-of-custody document,” he said .

After the incident between the Bhattacharyas over the weekend, Anurup reportedly moved out of the residence and claimed he would seek a legal seperation from his wife.

“Reports about my separation are false. I have not filed for divorce,” Bhattacharya told India Today .

His wife, Sagarika, was also reportedly missing briefly but was later found staying with a Bengali family staying in the same area. The couple’s lawyer had gone to their residence to meet with them but found it closed.

Two Indian diplomats are to travel to Norway for the 23 March hearing in the court related to the transfer of the children’s custody. MPs including Brinda Karat of the CPI-M and Sushma Swaraj of the BJP had supported a campaign by the grandparents of the children seeking their custody.

The children were taken from their parents’ custody in May 2011. Their visas are set to expire but if the court does not award the custody to their uncle the visas of the children to enable them to stay on in foster care.