LAHORE: A Lahore High Court family pension ruling struck down Punjab’s order that cut off pensions to unmarried, divorced and widowed daughters.
The Rawalpindi Bench ruled that the Punjab notification violated the Constitution. A second judgment on Saturday went further and rejected the view that a pension belongs only to a husband or a widow.
What the court decided in the family pension ruling
Justice Ahsan Raza Kazmi delivered the first verdict. It came on a plea from Falak Shah, one of the women who lost out. A former Rawalpindi District Bar Association president, Tanveer Sohail Shah, joined her as a petitioner.
Lawyers for the Punjab Finance Department and an assistant advocate general argued for the policy, but the court turned them down. It told the province to bring back pensions for every affected woman.
The dispute began with a 2024 notification that limited family pension eligibility to widows. As a result, divorced, unmarried and widowed daughters of deceased government employees lost their pensions in 42 provincial departments.
Petitioners said the rule violated Article 25 of the Constitution, the clause on equality before the law. The court accepted that argument. It also said that depriving daughters of family pension after their parents die conflicts with fundamental rights and social protection under the Constitution. Affected women in 42 departments can now press for their payments.
The suspension reportedly pushed thousands of financially weak women, among them women with disabilities, into severe hardship. Many relied on those payments as their only income.
Court rejects budget arguments
The family pension ruling said the state must support vulnerable citizens instead of withdrawing lawful entitlements. It added that money trouble or budget deficits cannot justify taking away basic rights and the means of survival.
The government had offered financial and administrative reasons for its policy. Even so, the judges found them unconvincing.
A second family pension ruling on Saturday
On Saturday, the court accepted a petition from three women. Justice Syed Ahsan Raza Kazmi wrote a 20-page judgment on the plea of Zahida Yasmin.
The judgment declared null and void an explanation that the finance department issued on May 30, 2025. It also annulled orders that denied pensions to unmarried or divorced women.
The court noted that the word family in the law does not stop at a life partner. “Pension is not a favour, but a legal right,” it said.
Departments must look again at their decisions, the court said, and hear the petitioners with patience. If the women prove eligible, the departments must pay pension and arrears under the law. That could matter to many who lost payments since 2024.
What happens next
The rulings raise hopes among women who have waited for their pensions. However, nobody yet knows how fast the orders will take effect.
Departments now have to review each case in light of the judgment. Meanwhile, women who lost their pensions in 2024 will watch whether the province acts quickly.
For now, the family pension ruling gives daughters a clear legal footing, and it tells the government that budget pressure cannot override a constitutional right.
