AHMEDABAD: Gujarat High Court has dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by a Surat-based chartered accountant seeking custody of his two-year-old daughter, ruling that the child staying with her mother cannot be called illegal custody. The court said any change in custody would need a detailed inquiry before a competent court.The man had alleged that his estranged wife and her parents had “illegally detained” the child. The dispute, however, has a backdrop that drew the court’s attention: the husband’s heavy reliance on AI platform ChatGPT, even for minor, routine matters, which the wife said had steadily strained the marriage.The couple married in 2016 and had a daughter in 2024. The wife left the matrimonial home in May this year and took the child with her in August. The husband then sent a legal notice demanding the child’s return. He also approached police, who did not act as the child was with her mother.In her reply to the notice, the wife made allegations that later became central to the HC’s reading of the case. According to the order, the husband developed a habit of extensively using ChatGPT from January 2025, and began forming and fabricating narratives that affected his behaviour and his relationship with his wife.The court also noted that he used terms such as “mother manipulator”, “daughter thief” and “father spineless”, and said this showed his excessive dependence on the platform.The order further recorded that matters worsened after the husband developed a one-sided romantic attachment to a dentist in April 2025. A month later, the wife asked him and his family to cut down his ChatGPT use. As per the wife’s reply cited by the court, his behaviour did not change even after counselling and medication, and doctors said he was suffering from bipolar disorder, mania and depression.Rejecting the plea, the bench said no case was made out to change the child’s custody. It added that the dispute involved contested facts needing extensive evidence, which only a competent court could examine.
