ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Gujranwala district police officer to produce in court on Monday three minor girls after their mother, who is Lithuanian, filed a petition for their custody.

The apex court also ordered the police officer to ensure the girls are not taken out of Pakistan and issued directions to the interior ministry to ensure the compliance of the orders.

The orders were issued on a petition filed by Maimouna Liskauskaite through her counsel Chaudhry Faisal Hussain for the recovery of her three daughters who she is alleging are in the improper custody of their father, Jamshed Siddique.

The petitioner, a Lithuanian residing in Dubai, says her children were brought to Pakistan without her knowledge, are in improper custody

The petitioner lives in Dubai where she teachers at a nursery school and is currently visiting Pakistan.

The petition was presented through the counsel in the chamber of the chief justice after office hours. After perusing the plea, the chief justice directed the office registrar to fix the plea before him and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan in chamber.

Both the judges later heard the matter and ordered the DPO Gujranwala to effect the service on Jamshed Siddique on the address mentioned in the petition.

The petitioner had converted to Islam from Christianity on Jan 7, 2004 and married Jamshed Siddique according to Islamic rites in Lithuania City. The couple had three daughters.

The petitioner, her husband and children moved to Dubai on Dec 19, 2010 and settled there.

According to the petition, on April 4, 2011 Jamshed took the girls out on the pretext of taking them to the park and brought them to Pakistan without their mother’s knowledge.

The petitioner said her husband divorced her on April 7, 2011 and that his parents threw her out of their house the same day. She said she looked for her daughters for seven years and that she found out later that they were living with their father.

The petitioner has argued that Jamshed forcibly removed the minors from her lawful custody and that according to the law, she is entitled to the custody of her minor children.

The petition contended that the mother tried her best to engage the local authorities by writing to the foreign ministry through the Pakistani consulate in Dubai, requesting them to locate her daughters so that she can at least communicate with them and meet them. The petition said the police told her Jamshed had never come back to Pakistan.

She filed a petition before the Lahore High Court, seeking the custody of her daughters but the high court dismissed her petition on Feb 23, 2018. She then petitioned in the apex court.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2018