Culture of depriving women of property should end: CJP

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday ordered the immediate transfer of inherited property to a widow in a long-standing property dispute.

During the hearing, the court directed that the widow, Shamim Akhtar, be granted her rightful inheritance without further delay. The SC also imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on the opposing parties for perjury and fraudulent litigation to be paid within three months.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa warned that if the fine was not paid, the revenue department would recover the amount from the respondents’ property. He condemned the unnecessary complications introduced into a simple inheritance case and emphasized that the culture of depriving women of their rightful inheritance must end.

He further instructed that action should be taken against those who provided false testimonies.

The CJP said that the trial had been ongoing for 26 years and expressed his desire for the parties to cease committing further injustices by depriving the widow of her rightful property.

“Those who seek to suppress a woman’s inheritance rights are sinning,” the CJP remarked, adding that lawyers should also refrain from representing such fraudulent cases.

Shamim Akhtar’s husband Mehrban passed away in 1998. Mehrban’s second wife, Aksar Jan, and her nephews had falsely claimed that the property was gifted to them.

Source: The News