PESHAWAR, June 19: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday referred the case about the row between a Kyrgyz woman and her Pakistani husband over the custody of their two minor sons to the court of the guardian judge directing it to decide the case within 45 days.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth disposed of a writ petition filed by Kyrgyz woman Temirova Nurzhanal Osmonalyevna issuing directions that the case be referred to the Peshawar district and sessions judge, who should entrust any family judge or guardian judge with it.

It also ordered the keeping of the two boys, Ahmad Ali, 6, and Sudais Mohammad, 5, at the Police Child Protection Centre (PCPC) and said they should be provided with best food, clothes and health care facilities.

The bench directed the guardian judge to pass an order for interim custody keeping in view the peculiar circumstances.

The petitioner claims she had married Pakistani national Shaukat Ali in Bishkek around six years ago and had two sons out of wedlock.

She claimed that relations between her and her husband went sour leading to the escape of Shaukat to Pakistan in January 2011 along with the two minor boys.

The petitioner alleged that Shaukat was also wanted in several cases in Kyrgyzstan over frauds and that the local government had approached Interpol for his arrest.

Also before the court, the two boys were produced by lawyer Akbar Ali and Inspector Rafiq on behalf of the PCPC.

Usman Khan Turlandi, lawyer for Shaukat, requested the bench to refer the case to the guardian judge in Swabi.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Sheikh Riazul Haq, said it would not be possible for the petitioner to visit Swabi, so the case should be shifted to a Peshawar court.

The bench observed that as the petitioner was foreigner and there were security concerns, it would be inappropriate to refer the case to a court in Swabi.

The minor boys were recovered by the Federal Investigation Agency from Mardan where they were staying with their maternal aunt.

During an earlier hearing on May 2, the court had directed the FIA to trace the two boys and turned down a report submitted by an official of Topi police station in Swabi wherein he had stated that police had searched in vain for Shaukat and his two sons at his ancestral village, Botka Shaheedan. —Bureau Report