The Supreme Court permitted a mother to relocate her two children to the United Kingdom while a child-custody appeal remains pending. In Debarati Bhunia Chakraborty v. Suman Sankar Bhunia, the Court considered the children's welfare, their existing relationship with both parents, supervised visitation reports and the fact that the father was facing prosecution under the POCSO Act. The Court held that once a chargesheet has been filed concerning allegations of sexual abuse against a parent, granting custody of the concerned child to that parent would be inconsistent with considerations of safety and welfare at the interim stage. The Court also criticised observations made by the Delhi High Court concerning the genuineness of the POCSO allegations, holding that such observations were premature while the criminal proceedings remained pending. Those observations were expunged. The Supreme Court considered the mother's employment and educational arrangements in the UK and permitted relocation for the present. The mother was directed to provide details of the children's schooling and undertake to produce them before the court whenever required. The final custody appeal is to be considered separately on merits.