RAWALPINDI, Jan 13: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench here on Tuesday directed a man to bear the cost of DNA tests of two children after he filed a petition claiming he was not their father.

Justice Mazhar Hussain Minhas of the LHC directed Aftab Ahmed to bear the expenses to determine the paternity of Khurram, 12, and Kainat, 10, and directed the in charge of Dr A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories in Islamabad to submit the report on or before January 30.

The court also instructed both the petitioner and the respondent, Taj Bibi, to go to the laboratory on January 26 and get the children’s DNA tests conducted there, observing that if the results showed that the children were not the offspring of Aftab, the expenses would be borne by their mother.

Mr Ahmed had moved the LHC against the verdict of a family court that ordered him to pay monthly allowance to his “former wife and two children”. The appellant maintained that he was neither the husband of Taj Bibi nor the father of Khurram and Kianat.

On the other hand, the woman claimed that she converted to Islam and married Aftab, but she was abandoned by her husband. She moved a family court to obtain monthly expenditure for her children and got the decision in her favour.

The LHC in November ordered the DNA testing of the children, but Aftab refused to bear the expenditure, saying they were not his children and he had no obligation to go for the tests.

Meanwhile, a court bailiff on the directives of a district and sessions judge (DSJ) recovered two children from the house of their father, and handed them over to their mother.

Malik Khalid Farooq, the bailiff, recovered Haseeb Mohsin, 5, and Alisha Mohsin, 3, after their mother, Tehmina Mohsin, moved the court of DSJ Attaullah Kosar for their custody from her husband, Mohsin Raza.

The court directed both the parents to appear in the court on Friday to decide about the children’s custody, as the mother maintained that she was ousted by her husband, who also took away the children forcibly.