The High Court (HC) has quashed a lower court order that granted the custody of a 10-year-old girl to the father, and directed the mother to take the child along with her.
The higher court in its order, however, said that if the father of the minor girl wants to meet his child, he can meet with her. The divorced mother has the right of the custody of her child so long the child studies in school.
The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim quashed the lower court’s order on Sunday (July 4) following an appeal of the mother.
Barrister Fakhrul Islam, a lawyer of the Supreme Court, moved for the petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Somorendra Nath Bishwas represented the State.
According to the case statement, the couple, who were students of Business Administration faculty of Dhaka University, got married in 2007, and the female child was born in 2011. She is now a 10-year-old child girl and student of a local school.
The couple got separated in 2019 following the divorce. The mother of the child girl lives in Hazaribagh of the capital, while her father lives in Gazipur.
The child remained under the custody of her mother. Against this backdrop, the father filed a case with a family court to take the minor to his home. But, the lower court on June 16 gave order in favour of the child’s mother.
Later, an appellate court stayed the order and directed that the child girl will be given to her father’s custody in the next 21 days and will remain under the custody of her mother on Friday and Saturday.
The mother filed an appeal with the High Court, challenging the lower court’s order and sought stay order on the decision. After the hearing, the higher court stayed the lower court’s order for 30 days and said that the final decision on the matter will be issued after beginning of regular functioning of the court.
The custody and guardianship of children related cases are dealt in the light of the Family Courts Ordinance, 1985 and the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890.
Generally, both the parents have the right of the child custody. However, when the marriage breaks down, the question arises who will be the legal custodian of the child.
A father is the legal and natural guardian of the children until they attain the age of maturity. However, the mother has a right of custody of her child up to the age of seven years in case of a male child, and up to the age of puberty in case of a female child.
