Opinion of minor has to be considered if minor was old enough to form an intelligent preference
PLJ 2012 SC (AJ&K) 26 · Azad Jammu & Kashmir High Court
This case was about who should have custody of two young children after their mother died. The children's maternal grandmother applied for custody, arguing that since the father had remarried, the children's welfare would be better served living with her rather than with a stepmother. The father opposed this, saying that as the natural guardian he was entitled to custody, that he had enrolled the children in a good English-medium school, and that they had been living with him for over four years since their mother's death.
Both the trial court and the Shariat Court had already ruled in favor of the father, and the grandmother appealed further. The Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir upheld these earlier decisions and dismissed her appeal.
The court explained that the central issue in custody matters is always the welfare of the minor, which includes moral, spiritual, and material well-being. Judges must weigh factors such as kinship, character and capacity of the proposed guardian, home environment, and the age, sex, and religion of the child. Importantly, the court found that the children were old enough and intelligent enough to express a meaningful preference, and that their views should not be lightly ignored. Given that the father was financially stable and could provide better education, while the elderly grandmother was herself dependent on relatives and might struggle to raise the children, the court ruled that custody should remain with the father.
یہ مقدمہ اس بات سے متعلق تھا کہ ماں کی وفات کے بعد دو کم سن بچوں کی تحویل کس کے پاس ہونی چاہیے۔ بچوں کی نانی نے تحویل کے لیے درخواست دی اور موقف اختیار کیا کہ چونکہ والد نے دوسری شادی کر لی ہے، اس لیے بچوں کی بہتری اس بات میں ہے کہ وہ سوتیلی ماں کے بجائے ان کے ساتھ رہیں۔ والد نے اس کی مخالفت کی اور کہا کہ قدرتی سرپرست ہونے کے ناطے تحویل کا حق اسے حاصل ہے، اس نے بچوں کا داخلہ ایک اچھے انگلش میڈیم سکول میں کروا رکھا ہے، اور ماں کی وفات کے بعد سے وہ گزشتہ چار سال سے زائد عرصے سے اس کے پاس رہ رہے ہیں۔
ٹرائل کورٹ اور شرعی عدالت دونوں پہلے ہی والد کے حق میں فیصلہ دے چکی تھیں، جس پر نانی نے مزید اپیل دائر کی۔ آزاد جموں و کشمیر کی سپریم کورٹ نے ان سابقہ فیصلوں کو برقرار رکھتے ہوئے اس کی اپیل خارج کر دی۔
عدالت نے واضح کیا کہ تحویل کے معاملات میں بنیادی مسئلہ ہمیشہ نابالغ کی بہتری ہوتا ہے، جس میں اخلاقی، روح