IHC orders recovery, production of minor girl in custody case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered the recovery of a minor girl in her custody case and directed police to produce her before the court today at all costs.

The court observed that if the girl is outside the limits of Islamabad, then she should be recovered with the help of the Azad Kashmir police. The IHC further said that if the SHO of the Shehzad Town Police Station fails to produce the girl, the DIG operations will personally appear before it.

Hearing the application of Sehrish Batool for the recovery of her daughter, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the IHC addressed the girl’s father and said he also had a right to the girl and should approach the family court rather than destroying his daughter’s future.

The police produced the girl’s father, Afzal Mehmood, in the court on a court order, but he expressed ignorance about his daughter’s whereabouts. Mehmood submitted that he had dropped the minor girl along with her mother at the latter’s workplace.

The court asked the respondent not to tell a lie, as several children had been produced before the court even from abroad on its orders.The high court asked the father of the girl to think over the situation as it has the option of sending him to prison. It said respondent Afzal Mehmood was obstructing the course of justice in ensuring that his daughter is recovered.

The court directed the SHO of the Shahzad Town Police Station to take strict measures permitted under the law for the recovery of the girl. It said that in the event the police officer feels that the minor girl has been taken out of the jurisdiction of the court, he can liaise with the police of the provinces and/or Azad Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that the order of the court for the production of the minor girl is complied with in letter and spirit.