After 2yrs of legal battle, a mother gets her child back
After going through legal battle for over two years, a mother will finally be able to reunite with her son.
Sadika Sheikh, who is an Indian citizen, managed to get her five-year-old son's custody for the time being, following a Supreme Court order today, from the child's father Saniur TIM Nabi, a businessman in Dhaka.
However, the Appellate Division of the SC said Sadika cannot leave the country along with the child without permission from the family court concerned where two cases over the custody issue are still pending.
The apex court also granted bail to Saniur in a contempt of court case in which the High Court sentenced him to six months imprisonment on the condition that he must submit his passport to the authorities concerned.
It said Saniur can see the child for two days every week at a residence in Banani where Sadika has been living.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan passed the order after hearing of a bail petition filed by Saniur in connection with the case.
During the hearing, Sadika's lawyer Fawzia Karim Firoze informed the court that Saniur's family members had handed over the child to Sadika in compliance with its earlier directive.
Advocate Fawzia told The Daily Star that Sadika and Saniur got divorced in August 2021, and Sadika filed a petition with the HC seeking custody of the child.
The HC issued an order for Saniur to hand the child over to Sadika by November 16, 2021, but the order was not complied with. Instead, Saniur left the country with the child on November 16.
When Saniur didn't hand the child over within time, the HC on November 17 ordered Saniur and police to produce the child before the court on November 21. It also directed Saniur not to leave the country.
However, DMP informed the HC through Deputy Attorney General Bepul Bagmar that Saniur left the country with the child already, so the HC issued a contempt of court rule against Saniur.
On December 15, the HC sentenced Saniur to six months' imprisonment and fined him Tk 1 lakh in this connection.
Saniur's lawyer Munshi Moniruzzaman told this correspondent that Saniur came back to Bangladesh from Australia along with the child on October 17 and surrendered before the lower court concerned on October 23 in connection with the contempt of court case, and the lower court sent him to jail the same day.
Now the child will remain in the custody of his mother Sadika until the cases are disposed of by the family court, said Sadika's lawyer.
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