Indian parents move Bombay HC to send minor daughter to USA for vaccination

A Bench of Justices SS Shinde and Abhay Ahuja after a brief hearing on Tuesday sought the state's response to the petition asking for the appointment of the maternal aunt, a co-petitioner, as the legal guardian of the minor girl during her US travel.

The parents of a minor girl who is a US citizen by birth have moved the Bombay High Court to enable her to travel to the US for anti-Covid vaccination. The couple is seeking directions from the court to appoint a legal guardian who can travel along with her. The girl is a Class 11 student of an IB school and her academic year begins on the 1st of July. A Bench of Justices SS Shinde and Abhay Ahuja, after a brief hearing on Tuesday, directed the state to give its response within a week. Purvee Parekh, a co-petitioner and maternal aunt of the girl, sought her legal guardianship through the petition to accompany Saumya Thakker to the USA for her vaccination. Senior Advocate Dr Milind Sathe appearing for the aunt and Saumya's parents argued that since Saumya was a minor below 14 (which is a permissible age to travel alone), she had to be accompanied by either a parent or a legal guardian.