Delhi HC refuses to stay proceedings against TMC MP’s ex-partner over pet custody

THe new delhi heights margaret court on tues declined to directly stay the trial court proceedings initiated by All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra against her former partner, advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, over the custody of their pet Rottweiler dog Henry.A bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri passed the order while hearing Dehadrai’s petition against the trial court’s November 10, 2025, order dismissing his application for rejection of Mahua’s suit.The trial court had concluded that Dehadrai’s pleas for rejection of the suit on the ground of limitation, absence of ownership or Mahua’s alleged suppression of facts were matters that required evidence to be led by both sides and could not be adjudicated without a full-fledged trial.This came after Dehadrai, appearing as the petitioner in person, requested the court to list his petition before April 29, the date on which the high court is scheduled to hear Moitra’s plea seeking interim custody of the dog for 10 days every month or alternatively to stay the proceedings since the next date of hearing before the trial court on Wednesday.The high court, however, declined both requests, refusing to grant an earlier hearing or to stay the trial court proceedings in Moitra’s absence, but issued notice in the petition and his application to stay the further trial court proceedings. The matter is next listed for hearing on May 14.“Not in their absence, please. I’ll issue notice,” the court remarked.In his petition, Dehadrai said that the trial court in its order failed to apply the principles governing the rejection of complaints to the admitted pleadings and statutory framework. “The order reflects a clear non-application of mind and permits a suit to proceed despite the absence of any legally cognizable cause of action and the existence of express statutory bars,” it stated.Henry’s custody between Jai and Moitra became a key point of contention between them amid a broader dispute that began with Jai’s complaint to CBI in October 2023.In his complaint, Dehadrai accused Moitra of parliamentary impropriety, corruption, and accepting money and favours in exchange for raising questions in Parliament. Following this, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleging that Moitra had granted businessman Darshan Hiranandani direct access to her official MP login credentials to post questions on her behalf. That same month, Dubey had also filed a complaint with the Lokpal, alleging “cash-for-query” misconduct against Moitra.Dehadrai, in October 2023, also wrote to the then Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora, accusing Moitra of kidnapping the three-year-old dog to “harass and blackmail” him. He said he purchased Henry in January 2021 for ₹75,000 and called their relationship “that of a parent and a child”.In 2025, Moitra instituted a suit against Dehadrai seeking shared custody of Henry, claiming they had an oral agreement to that effect. In her complaint, she said that she had cared for Henry and developed a deep emotional bond with him akin to that of a parent.