Woman wins inheritance 22 years after her death just because of carelessness and the laws not being followed properly by the revenue staff.
The supreme court has approved a female a rightful heir to her father’s inheritance, 22 years after her death.
“In many cases dealt by us, we painfully observe the deterioration and decline in the performance of the Revenue Department, absence of proper record keeping, and the erosion of a system of checks and balances. Suspected transactions are easily recorded by disregarding the stipulated legal requirements.
“Even in cases where the revenue staff has been complicit generally no consequences are visited upon them by the competent authority,” said a nine-page judgment authored by Justice Qazi Faez Isa in an inheritance case.
Just because of all this mismanagement and carelessness of the Punjab Revenue Department the weaker members of the society, that are the women and children are being deprived of their basic rights.
The case of the woman who won inheritance 22 years after her death had come to this court, the fourth court, because of the revenue staffs’ complicity; their not following the law, not remaining vigilant, and their being careless.
A woman, Munir Sultan, was deprived of her basic rights and couldn’t get her inheritance as her stepmother and brothers claimed that the head of their family had presented them all the property as a gift during his lifetime.
She, however, filed a case in 1998 seeking her right according to Sharia. The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench gave a judgment in her favor, a judgment that was later challenged in the Supreme Court.
The two-judge bench led by Justice Isa upheld the LHC order and noted that the prevailing state of affairs of the Punjab Revenue Department is far from satisfactory.
“Bad, insufficient, and easily manipulated records cause unnecessary litigation. Such litigation would be avoided if the revenue department did its work properly.”
The court noted that the record-keeping by the revenue department needs to be improved to safeguard the valuable property rights of the people. The court noted that in the present case, Punjab’s Revenue department made wrong entries in the revenue record.
“The Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department also failed to ensure Almighty Allah’s command to protect the rights of orphans and the Human Rights and Minorities Affairs department did not protect the rights of vulnerable females (daughters/sisters).
“This brings into question the billions of rupees spent on these departments,” it said.
It said Punjab’s Annual Budget Statement for 2020-2021 earmarked an amount of about Rs1,737 million for the Revenue department including the Board of Revenue and Punjab Revenue Authority.
It also earmarked an amount of about Rs579 million for the Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department and an amount of about Rs200 million for the Human Rights and Minorities Affairs department.
“The very purpose of these departments is to serve the people, and not to become a self-serving and perpetuating bureaucracy,” it added.
About Us:
Runway Pakistan is a complete solution provider for all your marketing communications related requirements. The ultimate hub of infotainment – Runway composes of all the key offerings – Monthly Print Magazine, Digital Magazine, Media Production, Creative Agency, PR Agency, and Marketing Consultancy that a brand needs to be seen, heard, and known!
Like and follow our Facebook page:
Runway Pakistan
