IHC hands over children to Polish mothers

Ag APP

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered a Pakistani citizen to hand over his two children to their polish mothers in a petition regarding the custody dispute of children.

The court directed the citizen to hand over the children and their passports to the FIA for the process.

Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani heard the petition filed by two Polish women seeking custody of their children from Pakistani citizen Muhammad Saleem. The official of the Poland Embassy and the two children appeared before the bench.

The petitioner’s lawyer argued that his client was a Muslim and he had two children from his two Christian wives. The children's father adopted the stance that he brought the children to Pakistan with the consent of their mothers, adding that his relationship with his wives was affected due to religion as they [wives] used to take his kids to church. He said he had a large business chain in Poland and he used to help these two women. He further said he was ready even to cancel his Polish citizenship for his kids. The court said the father could nurture his children while staying in Poland.

The father said it was difficult for him to raise his children in the Islamic way as the nearest mosque was some 300 kilometres away from his house. The court said if the father owned a large business in Poland, he could construct a mosque near his home. The two women on the occasion refused to meet their husband. After listening to arguments, the court ordered to hand over the kids to their Polish mothers.

The court said that the two children would be kept in Polish Embassy and would be produced again tomorrow (Wednesday). The court said it had temporarily handed over the children to the mothers and would decide the matter after hearing further arguments. The father told the court that he had been living with his wife despite the divorce.

He said that he had brought his children to Pakistan in August 2021 with the legal permission of their mothers. He also produced the permission letter before the court. The lawyer said that the two children were Polish citizens and they were studying there, adding that their stay in Pakistan had exceeded. The citizen told the court that he was a dual national, to which the court observed that it was a crime. The court adjourned further hearing of the case till tomorrow (Wendnesday).