Resolve case over guardianship of Japanese children within three months: Appellate Division
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ordered the trial court to resolve the appeal against an order that dismissed the guardianship of Imran Sharif, who has been in a legal battle with his Japanese ex-wife, over his two daughters within three months.
The status quo of both parties will remain the same for the period, the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed this order on Thursday.
"Not all problems are solved in the court. Parents of both children are desperate," it said.
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Senior lawyer Akhtar Imam appeared in the court on behalf of the children's father Imran Sharif, and senior lawyer Ajmalul Hossain QC on behalf of the children's mother Eriko Nakano. Eriko was also present during the hearing on the day.
According to an earlier order, the two children cannot be taken out of the country without the permission of the Appellate Division. The Japanese mother filed a review petition against the order on 13 February last year. Meanwhile, Imran Sharif filed a contempt of court against Eriko, claiming that she tried twice to take the children out of the country, in defiance of the Supreme Court order.
The review petition and the contempt petition were heard on Thursday.
Earlier on 29 January, Dhaka's Second Assistant Judge and Family Court Judge Durdana Rahman dismissed a case filed by Imran Sharif over the guardianship and ordered to keep the children in their mother's care.
The younger child has been with her father since the beginning of the battle. Initially, the mother went to the Gulshan Police Station to get custody of the younger child. At a point of the legal battle on 2 February, the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate court heard the statement of the younger daughter – Laila Lina – and ordered that the child will stay with her father for one day and with her mother for another day till 16 February this year.
In the meantime, Imran Sharif appealed to the District Judge Court of Dhaka, challenging the earlier verdict.
