Leander Paes moves court for his daughter's custody

MUMBAI: Tennis star Leander Paes on Saturday served an ace in a different court. He filed a guardianship petition for permanent custody of his and partner Rhea Pillai's minor daughter.
Paes also wants the family court in Bandra to restrain Rhea from taking the child out of Mumbai without court's permission. He is "concerned for her safety and welfare", because he feels Rhea's "escapades, indiscreet and irresponsible behaviour, lack of personal maternal supervision, volatile temper and self-indulgence create insecurity in the child and is detrimental to a healthy upbringing."
Though not legally married, his relationship with Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt's former wife Rhea, now 48, began in 2003 when they met on a flight from Goa to Mumbai.
The decade-old bonding took a hit when the holder of 14 Grand Slam titles discovered that he was not her only match. But the tipping point for him came when Rhea allegedly refused to send their child with him to the ceremony when he won the Padma Bhushan award, the third highest civilian honour, this year. His plea in court runs into 30 pages and is detailed with several annexures to prove that he would be the better parent.
"From the time of her birth in April 2006 and despite his hectic work schedule, he has always been involved in looking after their child-from bathing and changing diapers to reading bedtime stories and putting her to bed."
It was his vigilance that helped diagnose the child's sleep apnea. He wakes her up for school at 6.45am, gets her ready and drives her to school. His life, it said, "revolves" around his daughter, and he lets her pursue her passion for music, ballet and taekwondo.
The plea says that Rhea, an Art of Living instructor, "leads a lazy, self-indulgent and laidback life...and has never taken the child alone, always has two maids even on holidays abroad".
Paes was also shocked that he learnt of Rhea and Dutt's 2008 mutual consent divorce only in June 2013. He said she had misrepresented to him in 2005 that she was divorced, after which, he said, they got intimate and conceived their child.