Supreme Court Rules Disqualifying Divorced Daughters from Pension as Unconstitutional

Islamabad: In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has granted pension rights to divorced daughters, declaring that eligibility for pension should not be conditioned on marital status. The Court clarified that a daughter’s entitlement to pension is based on her legal and constitutional rights, not her marital or divorce status.
Justice Ayesha Malik, in a detailed 10-page written judgment, emphasized that a government employee’s pension is a legal and constitutional right, not a charitable or discretionary benefit. The Court further stated that pension rights extend to family members, and delaying this is considered a criminal act.
The Court declared the Sindh government’s 2022 circular unconstitutional and discriminatory, which had stipulated that only a divorced daughter would be entitled to her father’s pension after his death. The Supreme Court rejected this stance, asserting that the right to pension should be determined based on constitutional principles and financial need, rather than marital status.
The petitioner, Surah Fatima, a divorced daughter, had requested the restoration of her father’s pension. The Sindh High Court’s Larkana bench had ruled in her favor, against which the Sindh government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, which has now been dismissed.
The Supreme Court further stated that depriving women of their pension simply because they are married is a violation of the Constitution’s Articles 9 (Right to Life), 14 (Dignity), 25 (Equality), and 27 (Employment Free from Discrimination).
In its ruling, the Court expressed regret that despite Pakistan signing several international agreements on gender equality, the country ranks last among 148 nations in terms of women’s equality.