40-Year-Old Man Files Suit Before Bombay HC Seeking 1.5 Cr In Damages From Alleged Biological Mother Who Abandoned Him

A 40-year-old man has filed a suit before the Bombay High Court seeking Rs.1.5 cr in damages from one Aarti Mhaskar, who is allegedly his biological mother.

Plaintiff Shrikant Sabnis, who works as a make-up artist has alleged that in order to marry one Uday Mhaskar 'illegally', his mother Aarti hatched a conspiracy to abandon him and elope with Uday, "leaving behind her own son, in an extremely inhuman and ruthless manner making him to survive and live a dreadful life at the mercy of relatives."

According to the suit, Aarti left her matrimonial home with Shrikant who was 2.5 years old at the time, without informing anybody. She boarded a passenger train for Pune from Mumbai and got down at Pune and left Shrikant alone with a "cruel and inhuman intention to abandon the plaintiff, who at the relevant time was only 2 ½ years of age."

Thereafter, the plaintiff was found crying by a railway waiter from the pantry car who handed the abandoned child to one Gurunath Chavan, a Railway Police Constable, who was deployed on duty at that time at Pune Railway Station. As no one came forward to claim the plaintiff as their child, Constable Chavan claimed his custody 'out of sheer humanity.'

Things got complicated when a Rajasthani businessman Bhavarilal Vaishnav lodged a missing complaint of his two-year-old son on March 2, 1981. The said couple arrived at Pune and demanded the custody of the plaintiff as their missing son. Also, a criminal complaint was filed against Constable Chavan for "unlawful custody of the missing child."

Pursuant to this, the Magistrate Court in Pune after being satisfied with the documents and without waiting for the blood-reports entrusted the custody of the said plaintiff as their missing child to the Vaishanav's. The Magistrate also observed that the child wept when he saw Bhavarilal's wife Kamala.

However, when Constable Chavan filed an appeal before the Additional Sessions Judge, Pune, Court issued summons against Bhavarilal and asked him to appear in person. As he failed to appear, a team of police officers went to Rajasthan and brought back Shrikant with them.

The plaint states-

"After a gigantic emotional struggle of 38 years the Plaintiff was abundantly pleased to meet his mother but his joy was short-lived as she refused to accept the plaintiff as her son in front of the world but accepted him in secrecy. It is most humbly submitted that a mother has a right to give birth, it is a celebrated human right to have parenthood but no mother is entitled to abandon the child in such a cruel manner. Fearing repetition, the Plaintiff states that it was the personal choice of the Defendant no. 1 to live with Defendant no. 2 though it was illegal as she was a legally wedded wife of the Plaintiff's father, however, the Defendant No. 1 and 2 both had no right to throw the plaintiff on the road at the age of two years and six months!"

Thus, apart from damages, the suit prays for directions to Aarti Mhaskar to undergo DNA and any other scientific tests as may be deemed fit and proper by the Court to establish that she is the mother of the plaintiff.

The matter will be heard by Justice AK Menon.