Family pension ruling by LHC restores benefits for...

Summary

• A Lahore High Court family pension ruling struck down Punjab’s order that cut off pensions to unmarried, divorced and widowed daughters.
• Court rejects budget argumentsThe family pension ruling said the state must support vulnerable citizens instead of withdrawing lawful entitlements.
• A second family pension ruling on SaturdayOn Saturday, the court accepted a petition from three women.

AI Generated Summary

A Lahore High Court family pension ruling struck down Punjab’s order that cut off pensions to unmarried, divorced and widowed daughters.

The Rawalpindi Bench ruled that the Punjab notification violated the Constitution. A second judgment on Saturday went further and rejected the view that a pension belongs only to a husband or a widow.

What the court decided in the family pension ruling

Justice Ahsan Raza Kazmi delivered the first verdict. It came on a plea from Falak Shah, one of the women who lost out. A former Rawalpindi District Bar Association president, Tanveer Sohail Shah, joined her as a petitioner.

Lawyers for the Punjab Finance Department and an assistant advocate general argued for the policy, but the court turned them down. It told the province to bring back pensions for every affected woman.