LHC adjourns contempt case

Petitioner says ex husband took children to Dubai despite court orders.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Friday adjourned proceedings in a contempt of court petition filed by model Khushbakht Mirza aka Sofia Mirza against her former husband.

Mirza is seeking custody of her daughters from her former husband.

Mirza said her former husband, Umar Farooq, had escaped abroad along with the children with the connivance of some government officials.

She said their names had been placed on the Exit Control List.

She said a court had granted her custody but Farooq had violated the order and fled abroad, taking the children with him.



She said the Lahore High Court had ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in 2009 to get red warrants issued against Farooq with the help of Interpol.

Farooq’s counsel argued that the LHC could not initiate contempt proceedings against his client for violating the order of a guardian court.

The chief justice said the high court could take action on disobedience of an order passed by any court in the province. The chief justice adjourned the hearing till November 1.He directed the counsel for both sides to prepare for arguments.

The federal government has already informed the court Mirza’s former husband has been arrested and their twin daughters recovered.

The government said Farooq and the girls would be produced before the Supreme Court as a hearing was pending before it.

However, Umar Farooq has obtained restraining order from a local court in Dubai against his arrest by Pakistani authorities.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2013.