Widow, daughters get inheritance right from SC after 71-year legal battle

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has restored the inheritance rights of a widow and her two daughters after a 71-year legal battle, ruling that women cannot be deprived of their lawful share in property on the basis of an unproven oral gift.

In a judgment, a two-member bench comprising Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan and Justice Shakeel Ahmad set aside the decisions of the trial court, the appellate court and the Lahore High Court, all of which had ruled against the female heirs. 

The Supreme Court declared the mutation dated April 17, 1955, and all subsequent transactions based on it as illegal, void and ineffective against the inheritance rights of the petitioners. The court held that the petitioners are entitled to their respective shares in the estate of Roshan son of Bora in accordance with the applicable law of inheritance. It also directed the revenue authorities to correct the revenue record and undertake the determination and separation of the petitioners’ shares in accordance with the law.

According to the detailed judgment in Noor Muhammad and others versus Ghulam Haider and others, the court ruled that women cannot be deprived of their inheritance rights merely on the basis of an alleged oral gift unless the party claiming the gift proves all its essential legal requirements through independent and reliable evidence.

The court observed that revenue mutation entries, long possession of property and subsequent revenue proceedings do not, by themselves, constitute proof of an oral gift or ownership.