ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has held that the right of women to inherit is not a creation of domestic law, nor a concession flowing from social benevolence, but a divinely ordained and constitutionally guaranteed right.
A two-member FCC bench, comprising Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, announced an important judgement regarding women’s right to inheritance. The petitioners, Bibi Amina and others, had filed an appeal in the FCC against the judgment passed by the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on June 25, 2025. The petitioners had challenged their brothers for not granting them rightful share in the entire property.
The FCC accepted the appeal and set aside the BHC judgment, declaring that it is not sustainable in law. The court held that the suit stands revived, and the parties would be at liberty to file an amended plaint, if so advised, incorporating therein all other properties belonging to both the propositi so that the entire controversy between the parties may be finally and comprehensively adjudicated upon in accordance with law. “The Holy Quran unequivocally recognises and protects the inherited rights of women and leaves no room for customs, traditions or familial arrangements to derogate therefrom,” said the 33-page judgment authored by Justice Aminuddin.
The court held that it scarcely requires reiteration that the shares of inheritance in the estate of a deceased Muslim are neither uncertain nor dependent upon the whims of individuals, adding that they are specifically prescribed by the Holy Quran and, upon the demise of a Muslim, his or her legal heirs acquire vested proprietary rights by operation of law.
“The Holy Quran is the supreme source of law in Pakistan under Article 227 of the Constitution and it would be advantageous to remind ourselves that the right of women to inherit is not a creation of domestic law, nor a concession flowing from social benevolence, but a divinely ordained and constitutionally guaranteed right,” the court held.
“In a society where, regrettably, female legal heirs are frequently deprived of their divinely ordained and legally protected inheritance rights through subtle coercion, social pressure, manipulation and fraudulent devices, the courts are under a heightened obligation to scrutinise transactions affecting such rights with utmost vigilance,” said the judgment.
The court held that the Constitution of 1973, being the supreme law of the land, furnishes a comprehensive domestic legal framework for the protection and enforcement of women’s property and inheritance rights.
Before parting with the judgement, the court directed that all courts, revenue authorities and other forums entrusted with the adjudication, recognition, or enforcement of inheritance rights, particularly those concerning female legal heirs, shall exercise heightened vigilance and judicial scrutiny in such matters. The court further directed them to ensure compliance with certain indispensable safeguards while examining any compromise, relinquishment, family arrangement, settlement, gift, mutation, consent statement, or other instrument having the effect of affecting, curtailing, compromising, or extinguishing the inheritance rights of women.
The court ruled that all courts and revenue authorities shall, while adjudicating instruments affecting inheritance rights of female heirs, apply a rule of heightened judicial scrutiny, treating such matters as involving vulnerable class protection.
The court held that failure to establish the foregoing requirements would render the transaction susceptible to challenge and would deprive the beneficiary of the presumption of validity ordinarily attached to formally executed instruments. Consequently, it shall be incumbent upon all courts, revenue authorities, and other administrative officials dealing with matters concerning the inheritance rights of women to ensure strict compliance with these principles.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, the FCC sought from all parties a practical and workable solution in a matter pertaining to the EOBI corruption case.
A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan and comprising Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah heard 69 applications filed in the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) corruption case. The court directed all the parties to present a practical and workable solution by the next hearing and adjourned further proceedings until after the summer vacations.
