LHC removes curbs on mother’s movement with child
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has struck down conditions imposed by a district court on a mother requiring her to furnish a Rs700,000 surety bond and barring her from taking her one-year-old child outside its territorial jurisdiction, ruling that such restraints had no basis under the law used to restore custody to her. Justice Asad Ali Bajwa held that once a court restores a child’s custody to a…
Lahore High Court has ruled that a mother's conditions imposed by a district court to keep her child within the territorial jurisdiction, along with a Rs700,000 bond, had no legal basis. Justice Asad Ali Bajwa held that once custody is restored to a fit parent under Section 491 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the court cannot restrict the parent's movement or freedom of liberty.
The mother, Misbah Bibi, was found fit by the sessions court to have custody restored to her. The judge emphasized that Section 491 is a protective and remedial jurisdiction, not meant to impose lasting restraints on a parent. The conditions imposed by the judge were found to be alien to the scheme and object of Section 491 of CrPC.
The LHC allowed the mother's petition and set aside the sessions court's decision, allowing the mother and child to reside at the mother's parental home in another district without restrictions.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
