KARACHI: A sessions court on Thursday disposed of an application of an Indian lawyer seeking information and subsequent custody of a deaf and mute woman and observed that diplomatic channels be used since the matter involved two countries.

Geeta, aka Guddi, aka Fatima, now 21, has been brought up at Edhi Home where she has been residing for the past 13 years. She was found sitting alone and disorientated on Samjhauta Express in Lahore by the Punjab Rangers and believed to have come from India after crossing the Wagah border by train.

The court disposed of the application filed by Momin Malik, an Indian lawyer and social worker, under Section 552 (power to compel restoration of abducted females) of the criminal procedure code as not being maintainable.

The applicant named the Edhi Foundation and the provincial home department as respondents and asked the court to call a report about the confinement of Geeta, her appearance in court and to restrain the charity organisation from shifting her anywhere in order to enable her family members to take her custody after adopting the procedure.

Mr Malik along with his counsel also sought permission to obtain her handwriting and blood samples in order to ascertain whether she was an Indian national and identify her family, as five Indian families claimed her as their family member but they lacked financial resources to travel to Pakistan.

The applicant, who told the court that he was a practising lawyer at Panipat district courts, submitted that he had also approached the Indian high commission in Islama­bad, but the diplomatic move was delayed for one reason or the other.

The applicant’s counsel, Khawaja Mohammad Azeem, argued that the application may be allowed in the interest of justice since there was no alternative remedy available to approach Geeta to get actual information so that her travel back to her native country could be facilitated.

However, Advocate Naeem Qureshi representing Edhi Foundation, contended that the applicant has no locus-standi to file the application, as he was authorised neither by the Indian government nor by the reported family members of Geeta to get information and facilitate the victim to shift her to India.

Around 5,000 people were being maintained at Edhi Home in a proper manner with full facilities, he argued, adding that the applicant may provide the address and other particulars of the actual family of Geeta to the charity organisation that may be able to facilitate and hand the woman over to her family.

Atam Parkash Channai, identifying himself as the founder of Hindu Helpline Pakistan, also jumped in as he through his counsel Nadeem Shaikh moved an application to become a party by contending that he was also rendering services in such matters to extend cooperation to needy persons.

He submitted that the other applicant had no authority to receive the custody, claiming that they had resources to accommodate and facilitate Geeta to travel from Pakistan to India if her identity as an Indian national was proved.

The district prosecutor, Wahid Ansari, also opposed the application and argued that the Indian lawyer was not authorized to move the court though he could approach the Indian high commission.

He argued that the custody could not be handed over to any stranger and asked the court to dismiss the application.

Geeta’s statement recorded

The court also recorded the statement of the woman with the help of the principal of a deaf and dumb school.

Geeta, using her expressions, informed the court that she did not know the name of her native town as she was very young when she lost her family. She, however, expressed that her village had vast fields and a water channel ran between them. She also managed to communicate the number of her siblings and her house number.

Indian HC’s domain

The district and sessions judge (south), Ahmed Saba, observed that the applicant was required to submit an application through proper channel with the Indian high commission, which has specific domain to move the ministry of foreign affairs of Pakistan.

The ministry had the privilege to transmit the request through the Sindh home department to proceed ahead in accordance with law since every high commission had a focal person to redress grievance of such nature, the court observed.

It further observed that the Edhi Foundation had been looking after the woman in a proper manner for more than 10 years while the applicant also had no privilege to seek such remedy directly.

The court ruled that proper procedure and diplomatic channels were to be adopted since the matter involved the two countries which had signed agreements in relation to such matters and it was to be resolved with mutual consent.

It was the specific domain of the Indian government to ascertain the nationality of the woman at the first instance, the court order concluded.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2015

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