Inheritance clearly defined by Shariah: CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Wednesday remarked after the death of a person, legal heirs automatically inherit his property.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Isa heard a case related to the division of an ancestral house among siblings. He lamented there was repeat of a standard story and that was to “kill the rights of sisters”. “What does Shariat say? We cannot do anything in Shariat matters as everything is very clearly defined in Shariah regarding the inheritance,” he remarked.

The court approved the federal ombudsman’s affidavit regarding the market value of the disputed house of 10 siblings and their joint consent to auction it.

During the hearing of a petition filed through advocate Tanveer Sarfraz Khan, Agha Mohammad Ali submitted that the federal ombudsman had issued an order for the bidding of the house. He told the court that there were five sisters and five brothers, adding that the house was located in Rawalpindi and some money had been paid to the siblings. The CJP asked the counsel what he wanted the court to do. “Do you want to retain possession of the property for free,” he said. To a question, the counsel replied that a price of Rs 650 million was fixed by a commission. The CJP said the petitioner should bring a pay order of Rs 650 million, adding that if he did not do so, the court would issue an order to sell the house. Later, the court stopped the bidding of the house until the next hearing and made it clear to the petitioner that he should pay all the heirs or vacate the house. The hearing was then adjourned for two weeks.