In a strange and complicated family drama, a 41-year old Oxford University graduate, Faiz Siddiqui, has gone to court wanting maintenance from his parents for the rest of his life.
Siddiqui has claimed that getting financial assistance from his parents, Rakshanda and Javed, is his right due to the ill-health he suffers from.
This is not the first time that Siddiqui has been in the news for a legal foray. He had gone to court in 2018 also. At that time he tried to sue Oxford University for not providing good enough teaching. The 41-year-old had claimed that due to poor tuitions, he couldn’t graduate with a first-class degree.
The demand of £1 million in compensation from Oxford was rejected by the High Court. His first attempt at getting a similar amount from his parents through legal means also fell flat after a family court gave an adverse order last year. The case has now been taken to the Court of Appeal.
Siddiqui hasn’t been denied financial help by his parents so far. He has been residing in a flat, worth £1 million, in London, owned by his mother, for free. He has also been provided with £400 per week by his parents who are based in Dubai.
But differences have arisen in the family and the parents are no longer willing to be so generous to their son. Their lawyer has described Siddiqui as “difficult, demanding and pertinacious.”
As part of his arguments, the applicant’s lawyer has cited the health problems faced by him. Depression, anxiety, and insomnia have been mentioned as the health issues afflicting the former lawyer.
Siddiqui graduated in 2000 with 2:1 instead of a first-class from Oxford. He claimed this prevented him from getting the desired boost in his career. Yet, the 41-year-old managed to work in various law firms but failed to establish himself in the legal profession. Since 2011, he has been without a job.
The High Court, while rejecting his plea against Oxford, had said that the University cannot be said to have failed in providing adequate help to students and the failure of the applicant is likely to have been due to his own shortcomings, possibly aggravated by hay fever. Whether the Court of Appeal proves more sympathetic remains to be seen.
With Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi
Meeting consular staff at the British High Commission in Islamabad last Friday (16)