ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that a divorced daughter is entitled to her deceased father’s pension regardless of her marital status at the time of his death.
Authored by Justice Ayesha Malik, the 10-page verdict declared that the pension is a legal right based on entitlement, not charity or marital condition. The SC Judge stated that the timing of a daughter’s divorce — whether before or after her father’s death — is irrelevant to her eligibility.
The apex court Judge Ayesha Malik struck down a 2022 circular issued by the Sindh government, which denied pensions to daughters divorced after their father’s death. Malik called it discriminatory, unconstitutional, and a violation of fundamental rights under Articles 9, 14, 25, and 27 of the Constitution.
The judgment emphasized that women’s rights to pensions should not depend on financial need or marriage status but must be recognized as a matter of equality and constitutional entitlement. It also expressed concern over Pakistan’s ranking of 148 out of 148 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index, underscoring the need to protect women’s rights.
The case was initiated by a divorced woman seeking reinstatement of her late father’s pension. Her plea had been accepted by the Larkana Bench of the Sindh High Court, which ordered the pension’s resumption. The Sindh government challenged the ruling in the Supreme Court, arguing that eligibility applied only to daughters divorced prior to their father’s death.
Rejecting the government’s appeal, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s decision and reiterated that any delay in pension disbursement is a punishable offence.
The court further ruled that administrative circulars cannot override established law and criticized the presumption of women’s financial dependence as contrary to constitutional principles of equality and dignity.
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