Padma Lakshmi, the top Chef host, model and media personality is involved in a public custody battle which is living nightmare according to her.

Adam Dell, the child’s father is seeking a greater role in this 11-month daughter, Krishna’s upbringing, as he feels that Padma Lakshmi is unable to devote much time from her busy schedule to devote to her child.
[Dell] is the parent who can be relied upon to put Krishna's needs before his own, reads the suit, according to digitalspy.com. [Lakshmi's] career as a television personality and her commitment to celebrity status involve a hectic, irregular schedule and require frequent and distant travel, it further adds.

Dell also claimed that Lakshmi has tried to minimise, if not eliminate, [his] role in Krishna's life by encouraging the child to view her current partner Ted Forstmann as a father figure.

Naturally this is denied by Lakshmi’s spokeswoman, Christina Papadopoulos : Ms Lakshmi's sole interest lies in preserving the privacy and welfare of her daughter and in working out a fair and amicable agreement out of the media's glare. Her lawyer reiterated the plea that she wanted to settle the case out of the media glare in court as it should be done when a small child is involved.

It is believed that till now Adam’s visits were restricted to 9 days a month but now he wants a greater role in her upbringing as the earlier agreement between them ends after their daughter finishes her first year.

Padma Lakshmi’s defenders insist that she encourages Dell to be a part of the child’s life and intends to increase his role as the child ages.
Dell's lawyer Bill Zabel has said that his client had no intention of making the matter public but that the legal battle was necessary in order to have a relationship with the child, reports People magazine.

There was no desire for publicity and Adam regrets that there is some - but [he] can't help it given that he was forced to go to court to assert his rights as a father, Zabel said.

Court Lawyer Dell Lawyer