LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday sought assistance of a law officer on the issue of enforcement of a British court’s decision in Pakistan. The court passed the order in a petition of Pakistan-origin British national Syed Mudassir Ali Shah that challenged the removal of a minor girl from the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom’s court to Pakistan.

The court also sought replies from foreign and interior ministries and other respondents by December 20. The petitioner approached the court against his former wife for bringing their five-year-old daughter to Pakistan in alleged violation of a UK court’s orders.

He submitted that he married to Aasia Zahra in the UK and a daughter was born out of this wedlock in 2017. However, he said the marriage ended three months after the birth of the girl and the matter of her custody went to a local court.

He said the local court in the UK restrained both parents from removing the minor from its jurisdiction. However, he said, the mother violated the court’s order and brought the minor to Pakistan in October 2022.

The petitioner argued that the judicial protocols signed between UK and Pakistan required the court to send the child back to her native country. He, therefore, asked the court to direct the respondent authorities to recover the minor and allow her to fly back to the UK.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022