LAHORE: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has delivered a landmark verdict against the denial of women’s inheritance rights, overturning decades-old decisions that deprived a mother and sisters of their rightful share in ancestral property.
A two-member bench headed by Supreme Court Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan issued a 14-page ruling on an appeal filed by Noor Muhammad, declaring null and void decisions that had denied inheritance rights to women for 71 years.
Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan ruled that inheritance is not a favor granted by male family members but a legal and Shariah-based right that automatically transfers to heirs upon the death of the deceased.
The court held that fake oral gifts, fraudulent transfers, deception, family pressure, or customary practices cannot be used to deprive women of their lawful inheritance.
According to the ruling, after the death of the family patriarch in 1955, two brothers transferred the inherited property to their own names and used an alleged oral gift as grounds to deny their mother and sisters any share in the estate.
The judgment stated that courts must carefully examine all transactions and agreements that may deprive women of inheritance to ensure no fundamental right is violated.
Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan wrote that women’s inheritance shares are mandatory legal rights, not symbolic or optional entitlements, and cannot be denied in the name of family honor, tradition, or social pressure.
The court further ruled that the state, judiciary, and revenue authorities are all responsible for protecting women’s inheritance rights and ensuring women receive their shares in practical terms, not merely on paper.
The judgment noted that the burden of proving an oral gift lies on the party benefiting from it. However, the trial court wrongly treated the alleged gift itself as proof, contrary to legal principles.
The Supreme Court observed that the decisions of the trial court, appellate court, and high court were inconsistent with both facts and law.
It also rejected the argument that the claim was invalid due to delay, noting that despite the passage of decades, the burden of proof remained on those benefiting from the disputed transfer.
The court further observed that records showed the mother and sisters continued receiving a share of land income for years after the alleged agreement, indicating they had been kept unaware of the claimed oral gift.
Accepting the appeal, the Supreme Court set aside all previous rulings and directed the relevant revenue authorities to correct inheritance records in accordance with the law.
