The Lahore High Court has ruled that a mother cannot be denied the custody of her minor child solely on the basis of her getting married again, a leading English newspaper has reported. 

 

Stressing that the wellbeing of the child must take precedence over all else, Justice Syed Ahsan Raza set aside rulings of appellate and trial courts which had granted custody of a 10-year-old boy to his father. 

 

The child's parents had gotten married in 2012 and then divorced via a court decree. 

 

Justice Ahsan ruled that the child must immediately be handed over to his mother, from whom he had been taken. 

 

"In exceptional circumstances, and if deemed in the best interest of the minor, custody can be awarded to a mother who has remarried," the judge stated. 

 

"It is an admitted fact that the minor had lived his entire life with the petitioner (mother), and to remove him from her custody solely due to her remarriage is not a legally or morally sufficient standard," the judgment read. 

 

The mother's lawyer had argued before the court that she was the best option to care for the child's health, education and emotional needs. The father's lawyers had argued that the mother's remarriage had rendered her ineligible for raising the boy. 

 

Justice Kazmi noted that legality of the case depended on whether the mother's remarriage alone disqualified her from custody and whether her financial status had been fairly assessed.

 

He said that both lower courts had erred by relying exclusively on the two factors to award custody to the father.