The High Court on Monday rejected the writ petition seeking a change of court for the hearing of an appeal filed by Imran Sharif, the Bangladeshi father of two Japanese children involved in a custody battle with his ex-wife, who is Japanese.

Justice Mamnoon Rahman rejected the petition saying that the appeal will be heard before the Dhaka District Judge court instead of the High Court.

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Advocate Nasima Akhter Lovely appeared for the petitioner while Senior Advocate Barrister Ajmalul Hossain KC, Senior Advocate Ahsanul Karim and Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir for the children's Japanese mother.

Shishir Monir, lawyer of the Japanese mother Nakano Eriko, said that the Appellate Division had ordered to dispose of the appeal in the Dhaka District Judge Court within 90 days. But instead of handling the case in the Appellate Court, Imran Sharif filed an appeal in the High Court instead of the District Judge's Court.

The court also fixed June 15 for the next hearing and that will be held in the Dhaka District Judge court, he added.

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The elder of the two children is now in her mother's custody and the younger with her father.

On March 9, the Appellate Division directed the Dhaka Judge Court to dispose of Imran Sharif's appeal regarding the custody of two children within three months.

After 12 years of marriage, on January 18, 2020, Eriko, a physician, appealed for divorce from Engineer Imran Sharif over marital dispute.

On January 28, 2021 she also filed a case with a Tokyo family court for custody of their three children.

But on February 21, Imran returned to Bangladesh with the first two girls from Japan. Meanwhile a Japanese court passed a verdict putting the children under their mother’s custody.

On August 19, 2021 - days after coming to Bangladesh - Eriko filed a writ petition before the High Court here seeking custody of the two girls.

On November 21, 2021  the HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman ruled that the Japan-born daughters of Imran and Eriko would stay with their father.

However, the mother could exclusively meet the daughters, aged 11 and 10, three times a year for 10 days at a time and Imran, the father, will bear her travel and accommodation expenses, said the court.

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On February 13 last year, the Appellate Division ordered that the custody of the two girls will be decided by the family court and until then the two children will remain with their mother.

Eriko tried to leave Dhaka with her two daughters on December 23.

She was turned away by the police from the airport after she tried to take the children in defiance of court orders.