Ch. Imran Hassan Ali is representing a hapless father in an international parental child abduction case. Both father and mother are British nationals of Pakistani heritage.
During a legal battle over custody of their daughter – at present about 7 years old – the mother removed the child from the United Kingdom in violation of a Prohibited Steps Order by a Family Court in England. She married a Pakistani man and brought the child to Pakistan. The father instituted legal proceedings in Pakistan but the mother removed the child from Pakistan and took her to the UAE. The father pursued the matter before UAE authorities. In the meantime, the child’s British passport expired and the Family Court in England restrained the Passport Office from issuing her a new British passport. However, the mother procured a Pakistani passport for the child and brought her to Pakistan. The father again filed a petition before a Sessions Judge in Pakistan but it was dismissed.
Ch. Imran Hassan Ali was engaged to represent the father in the High Court. He filed a habeas corpus petition in the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, on behalf of the father. However, once again the mother removed the child from Pakistan and this time took her to Brunei. On 09-02-2021, the High Court took a serious view of this evasive attitude of the mother and ordered the Interior Ministry of Pakistan to cancel the Pakistani passport of the child. It also directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to write to the British High Commission in Pakistan to cancel the British Passport of the mother.
The father’s quest to have contact with his daughter is not over yet. But the mother seems to be running out of options. The High Court’s orders will help to pin her down.