The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday rejected her father’s petition against the Sindh High Court (SHC) verdict and disposed of the case when he told the court that he wanted to withdraw it.
In their remarks, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry, comprised of Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, stated that Dua was a human being who should be treated as such rather than herded like cattle.
The apex court could no longer intervene in the case because she had married the boy of her choice, they told her father, Mehdi Kazmi.
They also made it clear that his daughter’s case was not one of ‘kidnapping’ or ‘harassment.’
The Supreme Court judges also informed him that even if a girl under the age of 16 contracted marriage, her Nikah remained valid. It is still valid, they said, even under the law passed by the Sindh Assembly, and they added what they could do when her girl refused to accompany him even after the meeting.
The Supreme Court also instructed Kazmi to approach appropriate forums if he desired the formation of a medical board.
The court informed the petitioner that the case was not within its jurisdiction.
Later, in an interview with the media, Mehdi Kazmi’s lawyer, Jibran Nasir, admitted that Dua’s nikah nama was genuine. “It has never been proven ‘fake’ in any forum,” he added.
Now, he added, he and his client could approach the relevant forums for the formation of a medical board. “We will raise the age factor of the girl in the trial court afresh,” he informed.
“We will request the secretary of health for the formation of a new board. And we are pretty much sure that its report will be in our favor,” he concluded.
The Sindh High Court had on June 8, 2022, allowed Dua to make a decision as per her free will, adding she can live with whosoever she chooses.
However, after observing the progress in the case against Dua’s husband, the court directed police to file a challan against Zaheer in court.
In the three-page order, Justice Junaid Ghaffar stated that the verdict was based on the testimony. “Based on the evidence, this is not a kidnapping case,” he stated.
