Customs depriving women of inherited property un-Islamic: FSC

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) Wednesday declared as un-Islamic and illegal the custom of ‘Chador’ or ‘Parchi’ depriving women of their right to inheritance from their ancestral property, granted by Holy Quran and Sunnah.

A four-member FSC bench, headed by Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman and comprising Justice Khadim A Sheikh, Justice Dr Muhammad Anwar and Justice Ameer Muhammad, announced the judgment in a petition, filed by Syeda Fauzia Jalal.

The 21-page judgment, authored by Justice Dr Syed Muhammad Anwar, ordered actions against the perpetrator of such crimes under Section 498-A of PPC falling within the scope of ‘Amr bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar’ [Enjoining the right/honourable and forbidding the wrong/dishonourable], an important duty of the state under the Act X of 1991 (Enforcement of Shari’ah Act, 1991). Petitioner Syeda Fauzia Jalal had filed a petition in the FSC under Article 203-D of the Constitution by raising an issue whereby women are being deprived of their due right to inheritance in their ancestral property on the pretext of a local custom. She had made the President of Pakistan, the Ministry of Law and Justice, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, National Commission on the Status of Women, Governors and provincial chief secretaries as respondents.

According to the petitioner, this custom is called ‘Chador’ or ‘Parchi’, which is in vogue in Bannu of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), whereby women are deprived of their inheritance in their ancestral property through Jirga, or they are forced to take less valuable property by putting pressure upon them. She had also sought relief in person as her mother, Syeda Iftikhar Bibi, was allegedly deprived of her share in her father’s and husband’s inheritance due to the local custom or usage, which the petitioner named as ‘Chador’ or ‘Parchi’.

The court rejected the plea seeking relief in person being out of the scope of the jurisdiction of the court; however, it accepted the petition partially seeking a relief to declare the local custom prevalent in district Bannu (KP), with the name of ‘Chador’ or ‘Parchi’, and the basis of which women of that area are being deprived of their right to inheritance in their ancestral property.

The court, in its ruling, declared that any custom or practice in Bannu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), or any other part of the country — that “denies women their rightful inheritance” is “un-Islamic, illegal, and holds no legal standing”. The judgment stated that “any tradition depriving women of their inheritance — whether partially or entirely — is in direct violation of the Holy Quran and Sunnah”. Such practices were deemed “null and void”, with the court further stating that those involved may be “liable for legal punishment”.

The court further declared that all or any such custom or usage calls for actions against the perpetrator under Section 498-A of PPC, as such actions by the relevant authorities of the state fall within the scope of ‘Amr bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar’, which is an important duty of the state under the Act X of 1991 (Enforcement of Shari’ah Act, 1991).