Working woman not a disqualification for kids custody, rules Lahore High Court

Sun, June 09, 2024

The Lahore High Court has ruled that being a working woman cannot be a disqualification for a mother to claim custody of her minor children.

“In this day and age, when pursuit of education and career does not attract any disqualification for a father to seek custody of minor, how a mother can be discriminated against on that basis,” Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh observed, deciding custody of two minors of a divorced doctor-couple.

The judge remarked that working mothers are a reality of the day and their participation in the professional life is essential for the progress of societies.

He said it makes roles of women even harder, which needs to be recognised and appreciated rather than discouraged or made more onerous by attributing disqualifications vis-à-vis custody of the minors.

He asserted that the courts should not become insensitive to the needs of the minors merely because their mother is a working woman.

“Welfare of the minor remains the primary consideration for determining his or her custody,” the judge said.

It is only recognition and adjustment of expectation from a working mother in comparison to a stay-at-home mother so that the former is not unreasonably put to any disadvantage.

He rejected an argument of the father that the minors have been residing with him since their birth as the mother left them at a very tender age to complete her education and did not claim custody for quite some time, so she lost the right to seek custody of the children.

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