An international custody battle of a child born to NRI parents in Australia took a fresh turn, with the Gujarat High Court taking steps over alleged police overreach after the mother, who had moved to India with her son, submitted that she was summoned to a police station in Navsari at midnight on Wednesday.The court directed that CCTV footage from the police station be preserved to ascertain what transpired.The case stems from a habeas corpus petition filed in the High Court by the father, who resides in Australia and is fighting to enforce visitation and temporary custody orders granted to him by Australian courts as the mother had come to India with their son. He told the court that he had been unable to meet or even speak to the child after their arrival in India.When the matter first came up in July, the court facilitated a WhatsApp video call through which the father was able to speak to his son. The mother sought time to engage a lawyer.Also read | Estranged wife moving state doesn’t cancel father’s overnight visitation rights: CourtAt the next hearing in August, the father’s side raised a grievance about the video-call arrangement. The mother’s counsel, however, assured the court that she would facilitate video calls between the father and the child at a time convenient to both. The court adjourned the matter to allow the parties to place their affidavits and additional documents on record.The case took a fresh turn on Wednesday when the mother’s affidavit was placed before a division bench of Justice Gita Gopi and Justice L S Pirzada. According to the mother’s submissions and the affidavit recorded in the court order, the mother and the child had appeared before the court on August 3, when in-chamber proceedings were conducted. The court had noted that the mother had conveyed her inability to return to Australia, citing concerns about her safety, security, and a lack of support.The matter was then adjourned. The affidavit stated that there was no direction in the last High Court order requiring the mother or the child to remain present before the court on the date of the next hearing (September 9). However, according to the mother’s counsel, police personnel arrived at her residence around 10.30 pm on September 8 (Tuesday) and carried out a “discussion… until about 11.45 pm or 11.50 pm”, after which the police allegedly “insisted” that the mother accompany them “to the police station to sign documents”.Story continues below this adShe told the court that she remained at the police station from around midnight to 1 am, and was allowed to leave after assuring the police that she and the child would remain present before the High Court on Wednesday. Her counsel raised a grievance over the police action and questioned under whose instructions the mother had been asked to visit the police station “at odd hours”.The High Court then ordered that the CCTV footage be preserved, expressly noting the circumstances involving the woman and her young child. In its order on Wednesday, the HC noted, “The respondent no.4 is a lady and respondent no.5 is a corpus aged about 2 years. Thus, in view of the affidavit so produced, CCTV footage of (the) Police Station of 8.9.2026, more specifically from 10:00 pm to 1:30 am of 9.9.2026 be preserved… storage be taken in pen drive/Compact Disc, and a copy of the same be produced with the certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act.”The court issued a similar direction for preservation of footage of CCTV cameras installed at the mother’s residence, directing that footage covering the period during which police personnel allegedly visited the house also be secured and provided in electronic form with the statutory certificate.“In the same way, since CCTV, as per the affidavit, is installed at the residential house of respondent no.4, the footage of 8.9.2026 of the period police visiting the house be preserved,” the court ordered.Story continues below this adThe affidavit has been taken on record, and a copy has been directed to be supplied to the Additional Public Prosecutor. The court has also dispensed with the personal presence of the mother and the child until further orders.The matter will next be heard on September 25.