IHC wants name of three-year-old on ECL

Grants father’s family time to produce the girl before the court

ISLAMABAD: In a surprising move, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the interior ministry to place the name of a three-year-old girl on the exit control list (ECL) in a custody battle for the child.

The directives came as Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddique of the IHC heard a case filed by Sadia Malik who is seeking recovery of her daughter Minsa from her former husband Muhammad Asif.

During Thursday’s hearing, Asif’s family asked the court to give them six days to produce the minor girl before bench since her father was not ready to hand the girl over to her mother.

On the court’s directives, Asif's sister appeared before the bench on Thursday and sought time to produce the girl before the court.



The court accepted the family’s request and granted them time to produce the girl. However, it restrained the family from taking the girl out of the country.

The court also directed to release with warning two brothers of Asif, who had been arrested for submitting false affidavits about the girl travelling abroad.

The two men had allegedly told the court in false affidavits that the girl’s father had taken her to Dubai.

But the immigration officials said they found no records of the travel. The court later adjourned the case till September 6.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2017.