Compensation cases in family matters shouldn’t come to SC: CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi Thursday remarked that appeals for compensation payments in family disputes should not come to the Supreme Court.

These remarks from the country’s top judge came during the hearing of family related cases.

The chief justice said if the lower courts fixed a compensation amount, then the matter should end there, and the Supreme Court will not intervene in such monetary matters.

The court expressed displeasure over non-implementation of a 2018 verdict on the recovery of dowry items and directed the relevant trial court to ensure immediate implementation and submit a compliance report to the Registrar Office of the apex court.

A three-member bench of the apex court — headed by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi — heard an appeal against a judgment on the issue. The chief justice asked as to why a seven-year-old verdict had not been implemented yet. “Is the appellant a lawyer?” the CJP asked to which the appellant’s counsel replied that the petitioner was an ordinary citizen.

At this, the chief justice remarked that if he was an ordinary citizen, then why the judgment had not been enforced. He said it was unfortunate that the 2018 decision remained unimplemented.

Meanwhile, the court directed the trial court to ensure immediate enforcement and submit compliance report. In one appeal filed against the monthly amount fixed by the court for a child, the counsel for the petitioner submitted that the amount of Rs25,000 per month fixed for a minor child was very high. The court dismissed the appeal.