# Habeas corpus not a shortcut to family court 2026-08-07T18:07:45+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Indian High Courts are grappling with a surge of habeas corpus petitions filed by parents in custody disputes, a remedy meant only for illegal detention. LiveLaw reports that the Allahabad, Orissa, Punjab and Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi High Courts have all examined the issue in recent judgments during 2025-26. The standard test, from the Supreme Court's 2019 ruling in Tejaswini Gaud, requires illegal detention be shown. However, some benches have carved a 'tender-age' exception that risks swallowing the rule. Delhi produced opposite outcomes in similar transnational custody cases, pointing to an inconsistency that depends on the bench rather than settled law. ## Coverage - livelaw.in Tags: child custody, family courts, guardianship, habeas corpus, High Courts Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/habeas-corpus-not-a-shortcut-to-family-court/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/habeas-corpus-not-a-shortcut-to-family-court/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.