Daily Times

LAHORE: A deputy inspector general (DIG) in the Punjab Highway Patrol is violating Supreme Court directives by retaining the custody of his two children. He was meant to present the children, 17-year-old Qasim and 13-year-old Jaffer, in a guardian court hearing the plea of his wife, a Canadian national, for transfer of custody on Saturday. DIG Ghulam Mehmood Dogar appeared at the hearing without the two children and yet again cited excuses before the judge.The guardian court once again ordered the DIG to produce the children on Wednesday (tomorrow) so their custody could be granted to their mother, but the petitioner, Mirjam Aberras Lahdeaho, feels the DIG will remain adamant.

The couple, along with their two sons and a daughter,had resided in Lahore till 2009 before immigrating to Canada. DIG Ghulam Dogar returned to Pakistan in 2014 after acquiring permanent resident status, but he visited his family in Canada on and off. In December 2016, Dogar insisted that his three children should visit Pakistan. While the daughter refused, the two sons agreed to a short visit with an understanding that they would return to Canada after Christmas holidays. But the father never let the children leave the country and instead started efforts to acquire their legal guardianship.

Talking to Daily Times, Mirjam said she wanted to come to Pakistan when she heard of the guardianship case, but her husband sent her an unsigned sponsorship letter which delayed the visa process. After much ado, the petitioner was able to get the visa and filed a habeas corpus case in the Lahore High Court after coming to Pakistan in June. The LHC dismissed the petition saying the children were not being held against their will. The petitioner, through her counselor Asma Jahangir, then moved the Supreme Court against the LHC’s decision.

Last month, the SC rejected the LHC verdict and maintained that DIG Dogar tricked the children through various contrived reasons to stay beyond the scheduled date of their return. In the meantime, he sought a declaration from guardian court, appointing himself as the legal guardian of the children behind their mother’s back.

The apex court further stated in its judgement that DIG Dogar approached the Guardian Court without disclosing the exact facts and added that these factors point towards manipulation, deceit and lack of bona fides on the part of the respondent. The Supreme Court then directed that the interim custody of the two children be handed over to the petitioner. But the Guardian Court has so far been unable to implement the apex court’s verdict.

“The judge appears to be helpless before the DIG who is using his influence to escape from law,” Mirjam’s counsel Sabahat Riaz told Daily Times. She said the judge tried persuading the respondent during the last hearing to comply with the Supreme Court order but he seemed reluctant and continues to dodge the process. “They ordered the police to issue warrants against him. But it is a known fact that the Punjab police would hardly act against one of their own.”

The counsel said the petitioner would file a contempt of court case against DIG Dogar if he failed to produce the children in the next hearing on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Canadian consulate in Lahore said they would wait for the guardian court’s decision before intervening in the matter. “If the 17-year-old child comes to us and says he is being held in Pakistan against his will, we will ensure that the needful is done at the earliest,” the spokesperson told Daily Times.

Published in Daily Times, February  6^th 2018.