The Peshawar High Court has ruled that a mother’s second marriage on its own cannot be a reason to deny her custody of her child, stressing that the child’s welfare must come before either parent’s claim. Justice Mohammad Naeem Anwar gave the ruling in an eight-page order while deciding a custody petition brought by a father from Kohat, rejecting his request for custody while upholding his right to visit his son.
In its order, the court said judges deciding such cases must look at the child’s emotional bonds, education, settled environment and overall development, and explained that a mother’s remarriage cannot automatically settle the outcome. That principle shaped the whole decision, because the facts of this family showed a child deeply settled in one home. The parents separated after their marriage ended in 2018, their son stayed with his mother, who remarried in 2024, and he later moved in with his maternal grandfather in Shakardara, Kohat.
A trial court had granted the father custody in October 2025, but an appellate court overturned that decision in March 2026, and the father then took the matter to the high court. The bench noted that the boy, aged around nine to ten, had never lived with his father, so moving him suddenly could unsettle his emotional security, his schooling and his daily routine. Both parents had also remarried, a point the court treated as part of the wider picture rather than a deciding factor on its own.
The court ordered that the existing custody arrangement should continue unless a competent court directs otherwise. For now, initial meetings between father and son will take place at the family court in Lachi, Kohat, with the judge to set a workable schedule that helps them build a relationship without disrupting the child. Both sides may also jointly propose regular visits, including during school holidays. The ruling is a reminder that custody cases turn on what is best for the child in front of the court, not on a single fact about either parent’s life.
