By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: The Supreme Court of Pakistan Thursday disposed of the Mehdi Kazmi, father of Dua Zehra, telling him to approach the relevant forum for the formation of a medical board in Dua Zehra case.
A three-member bench of the apex court – comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar – announced the reserved verdict on a petition from Kazmi.
The hearing was held in the Supreme Court Karachi Registry.
Earlier, the SC reserved its verdict on the plea, challenging a SHC ruling in Dua Zehra case allowing Karachi teenage girl to decide her own fate, private news channels reported on Thursday.
The petition filed by Kazmi stated that on June 8, the Sindh High Court had allowed the girl to make the decision based on her statement and ‘medical test’, which found her to be 17 years old.
The petitioner maintained that according to the records National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) as wess as her educational records, Dua Zahra was 14 years old.
As the hearing commenced, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah read out the SHC verdict and observed that no evidence had been found to suggest the girl had abducted.
Asked by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah what it was he wanted from the court, Dua Zehra’s father said he wanted the court to overturn the SHC decision and allow Dua to live with her parents.
“Dua Zehra in her statement before the court has denied she was abducted by her husband Zaheer Ahmed,” the Judge observed and added that the petitioner could not level allegations of forced marriage without evidence.
Justice Muneeb Akhtar observed during the hearing that even a father had no standing in law to challenge a marriage in any court. “Only the girl has a right to challenge marriage status,” he asserted.
“You can approach the Sessions court as a guardian against the SHC verdict,” he said, and declined to view it as a case of abduction or harassment.
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