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In a historic judgment, the High Court said that from now on, mothers will be recognised as legal guardians of children for official documents, reports UNB.
The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil pronounced the judgment on Tuesday.
Advocate Ainun Nahar Siddiqua, Advocate SM Rezaul Karim and Advocate Ayesha Akhter stood for the petitioner at the court while Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta represented the state.
After the hearing on January 16, the court fixed January 24 for delivering the verdict on whether mothers will be recognised as legal guardians or not.
According to the lawyers, a female SSC examinee from Thakurgaon was denied admit card in 2007 as she could not mention her father's name in the information form which is required before participating in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination.
The girl grew up with her mother after her father left them without giving them recognition.
Later, on August 2, 2009, three human rights organizations — Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Bangladesh Mahila Parishad and Nari Paksha — jointly filed a writ petition citing public interest.
On August 3 of the same year, the High Court bench of Justice Syed Refat Ahmed and Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury issued a rule asking why this discriminatory provision, which is an obstacle to human rights, equality and especially the right to education, should not be declared as contrary to law and unconstitutional.
It also ordered submitting a report on the education boards where mentioning both father’s and mother’s names is compulsory in getting the registration cards for the SSC examinations and what kind of measures are taken to ensure participation of those eligible examinees in the examination who are unable to mention the identity of their fathers.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
