Home » Judgments » Lahore High Court
A child ‘adopted’ at birth goes back to the real mother; the court asks for an adoption law
Erum Shahzadi & another v. Additional District Judge, Sialkot & 4 others Lahore High Court W.P. No. 9573 of 2024 2025 LHC 151 Decided Justice Abid Hussain Chattha (Lahore)
Judgment at a glance
- Legal issue
- Can relatives who took a newborn on the day of his birth and registered him as their own son keep him against the real mother, who says she agreed under pressure and on condition of daily meetings?
- Decision
- No. Adoption is permitted in Islamic law, but the real parents have a preferential right to custody unless the child's welfare demands otherwise, and there was no justification for this adoption beyond the relatives' wish for a son. No written deed was made; the arrangement was informal; the mother's account of pressure and of the broken promise of daily meetings was effectively conceded; and the father supported her in court. A child naturally becomes attached to whoever raises him, so that attachment did not defeat the parents' claim. Recording the child under the relatives' names was against the Quranic command to call a child by his real father's name, whether or not the father consented; the mother had since had the birth record corrected. The concurrent decisions for the mother were upheld and the petition dismissed. Noting that there is no statute on adoption and that the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act 2004 falls short, the Court sent its judgment to the Punjab Law Secretary to consider legislation.
- Key principle
- Real parents have a preferential right to custody unless the child's welfare requires otherwise; an informal adoption, especially one agreed under pressure, does not defeat that right, and an adopted child must be recorded under his real father's name.
- Outcome
- Dismissed
- Relevant law
- Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Art. 199
- Why it matters
- Registering a relative's child as your own does not give you parental rights and is against Islamic injunctions.
- Agreements to give away a newborn are open to challenge, especially if consent was pressured or conditions were broken.
- Families raising a relative's child should use guardianship and keep the birth record accurate.
Cite as: Erum Shahzadi & another v. Additional District Judge, Sialkot & 4 others, 2025 LHC 151, Lahore High Court, W.P. No. 9573 of 2024, decided 6 February 2025
Case details
- Case
- Erum Shahzadi & another v. Additional District Judge, Sialkot & 4 others
- Court
- Lahore High Court
- Bench
- Justice Abid Hussain Chattha (Lahore)
- Date of decision
- Case number
- W.P. No. 9573 of 2024
- Citation
- 2025 LHC 151
- Outcome
- Dismissed
- Statutes considered
- Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Art. 199
- Topics
- Custody, Guardianship
Sources
- Official text
- Judgment PDF (court website)
- Our saved copy
- PDF, saved
- How this summary was made
- Summary from the full judgment
- Official text read on
- Note on the text
- The boy, the parents' third son, was born on 20 July 2021; the petitioners are the father's maternal uncle and aunt, who had three daughters. The mother filed a habeas petition and then, on 14 April 2023, a custody petition. The Family Court (3 November 2023) and the Additional District Judge, Sialkot (1 February 2024) decided for the real parents. The Court distinguished Rabia Khatun (PLD 1965 SC 665) and Miss Fauzia Iqbal (PLD 2015 Lahore 401), and relied on Mrs. Shaukat Khalid (1991 SCMR 19). Heard on 16 January 2025; announced in open court on 6 February 2025 (date used here). Approved for reporting. Short summary checked against the judgment.
- Cite this summary
- PK-Legal & Associates, "A child ‘adopted’ at birth goes back to the real mother; the court asks for an adoption law", summary of Erum Shahzadi & another v. Additional District Judge, Sialkot & 4 others, 2025 LHC 151, Lahore High Court, W.P. No. 9573 of 2024, decided 6 February 2025, https://pklegal.org/judgments/lhc-2025-151-adoption-no-statutory-basis/ (reviewed 3 November 2026).