Kyrgyz children’s custody: PHC dismisses review petition

Orders guardian judge to ensure father’s visiting rights.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday dismissed a review petition filed against an earlier court verdict on the custody of the two Kyrgyz children.

On July 16, Guardian Judge Quratul Ain granted custody of five-year-old Ahmad and three-year-old Sudais to their mother Temirove Nurzhana, a Kyrgyz national. The children’s father, Swabi resident Shaukat Ali was granted visiting rights according to the verdict and allowed to see them at the Kyrgyz embassy in Islamabad. Ali, however, immediately filed an application challenging the decision before Additional District and Sessions Judge Ahmad Sultan Tareen.

Ali’s counsels, Muhammad Usman Turlandi and Manzoor Khan Khalil appeared before a PHC division bench on Wednesday to ask the court to review its verdict.

Their attempt was shot down, however, with PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan remarking “there is no law to separate children from their mother.” He added that the court had to decide in the interest of the children and focus on where their future was secure.

He ordered, however, that in case Ali’s visiting rights were, the guardian judge could have his children brought to Pakistan. Judge Tareen had also earlier allowed Ali to talk to his children via video-conferencing when the petition challenging the verdict was filed.

Ali and Nurzhana were married in Kyrgyzstan in 2005. Nurzhana alleged he brought their children to Pakistan in 2011, using fake documents. She subsequently contacted the Kyrgyz embassy in Islamabad to take the matter up with Pakistani authorities and ensure her the children’s custody.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2012.