The High Court (HC) has ordered that pending custody cases in family courts across the country be resolved within six months.
The HC instructed the Justice Minister and the Chancellor General of the Supreme Court to take action to implement the Directive and to inform the individuals concerned.
An HC bank consisting of Judge M. Enayetur Rahim and Judge Md. Mostafizur Rahman issued the order on Sunday after rejecting a written application from a mother who had sought custody of her child.
The court ordered that the mother’s case should be settled with the family court and that she should be responsible for bringing up the child by March 31.
The HC found that custody cases filed in family court don’t get resolved even after two or three years, which is sad and frustrating.
The HC also found that imposing a fine of Tk 200 for failing to comply with a family court order is insufficient. The authorities concerned have been advised to amend and update this provision.
Lawyer Motahar Hossain Saju appeared for the mother and the applicant at the hearing, while lawyer Fauzia Karim Firoz switched for the father.
Motahar Hossain told reporters that a girl from Rangpur and a boy from Rajshahi married in 2011 and their daughter was born in 2015. The couple divorced in 2018 and the baby was with their father after the divorce. In this regard, the mother filed a written request for the return of the child with the High Court. That same year, after the first hearing, the court gave the mother the opportunity to spend time with the child.
The child’s mother had also filed a lawsuit with the family court.
Motahar Hossain said the six-year-old lived with her father in Rangpur. After the court order, the court said the “mother” could see her daughter in Rangpur and spend time with her. The district police commissioner was asked for help.
The father’s lawyer, Fauzia Karim, said the parents would have to obey the order of the family court once the case was settled there.
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