KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of petition of Dua Zehra’s father after he withdrew it.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah remarked that a case of abduction could not sustain if the girl denied having been abducted and Dua had already recorded her statement.

When Jibran Nasir, the lawyer for the petitioner, was contacted regarding details of Thursday’s proceedings, he said that he would not make any comments until a written order was released by the apex court.

However, in a tweet, he said they did not press the petition and after apex court directions, they would now approach high court with plea for constitution of a medical board, and also family court to challenge the nikahnama whereas criminal case against Zaheer Ahmed would continue before trial court. He said they would approach the apex court again after medical board was constituted.

The petitioner, Syed Mehdi Ali Kazmi, had approached the apex court against an order of Sindh High Court and contended that the SHC in the impugned order, passed on June 8 had placed reliance upon a statement of girl on oath and report of ossification test, which had shown her age between 16 and17 years, contrary to credible Nadra and educational documents verifying her age to be about 14 years.

He further asserted that SHC in its order has erred in law by setting the girl at liberty to decide her fate, settling a factual controversy regarding the age of girl and not ensuring an environment free from all pressures before recording statement of the teenager while exercising jurisdiction under Section 491 CrPC and Article 199 of the Constitution.

He argued that on June 14, the investigating officer of the case in his 173 CrPC report, submitted before the trial court, was clearly influenced by the impugned order and sought cancellation of the FIR.

The petitioner submitted that his daughter had gone missing from their house in Malir on April 16 and a case about her abduction was lodged at the Al-Falah police station. Later, the family came to know through social media that Dua had allegedly contracted marriage with Zaheer Ahmed, a resident of Lahore.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2022