The High Court on Monday asked the government authorities to explain in four weeks why Section 19 (b) of the Guardian and Ward Act, 1890 that allows the father only as the guardian of a minor child would not be declared as unconstitutional being ‘discriminatory’.
The court asked the secretaries of the ministries of law and women and children affairs, and the chairmen of the Bangladesh Law Commission and Bangladesh National Human Rights Commission to respond to the rule in four weeks.
The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zinat Haque also asked the National Human Rights Commission chairman and the women and children affairs ministry secretary to frame guidelines by constituting a committee to address the discrimination and ensure equality in the matter of guardianship of minor children.
The High Court also asked the chairman and the secretary to submit the guidelines by August 4.
The court passed the order after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Naripakkho, and Supreme Court lawyers Rashna Imam and Anita Ghazi Rahman.
‘We want to ensure equal rights of parents in case of guardianship of minor children as properties of minor children vest only in their fathers until they become adult as per the present guardian law,’ Anita told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·.Â
Petitioners’ lawyer Sara Hossain said that the High Court order was an important step in taking gender equality forward and establishing equal rights within the family and in the guardianship of children.