PRAYAGRAJ, April 7 -- The Allahabad high court has observed that a habeas corpus petition cannot be used as a tool to secure the presence of a husband who is allegedly evading warrants in a maintenance case. A habeas corpus petition is filed before the high court praying for release of a person in illegal detention. The bench comprising Justice Siddharth and Justice Vinai Kumar Dwivedi, while dismissing the petition filed by Sangita Yadav, said that it is for the family court concerned to initiate all coercive measures in such cases to secure the presence of the husband. The estranged wife had sought a direction to trace, arrest, and produce her husband, who was evading warrants in a maintenance execution case. The bench, in its order dated March 25, said that, merely because the husband is evading a warrant issued by the family court for payment of maintenance to his wife and daughter, a direction in the nature of habeas corpus cannot be issued. The order came to light on Monday. The facts of the case were that in January 2021, the family court in Azamgarh directed the husband to pay maintenance to his wife and daughter. However, the husband did not pay maintenance and his whereabouts were not known. In her petition, the wife prayed for a writ of habeas corpus directing the respondent authorities to produce her husband before the high court or the principal judge of the family court in Azamgarh. She further prayed that upon production, his custody be handed over to the family court to proceed with recovering the maintenance arrears. The petitioner relied upon a judgment of the Madras high court in the case of MP Nagalakshmi vs The Deputy Commissioner of Police.The bench, however, noted that in that case, the detainee was in the illegal custody of the petitioner's father-in-law, which justified the order to produce him....