The Sindh High Court has ruled that divorced daughters are entitled to a share of their deceased father's monthly pension until they remarry.
The court also acknowledged the challenges faced by divorced and widowed daughters of deceased pensioners, noting that in 1983, the finance ministry had relaxed pension rules to address these hardships. As a result, the status of divorced daughters was made equal to that of unmarried daughters.
In its ruling on a petition filed by a divorced woman, a two-judge constitutional bench consisting of Justice Mohammad Karim Khan and Justice Nisar Ahmed Bhanbhro directed the respondent authorities to distribute the monthly pension of the deceased pensioner to petitioner Sarwat Ghazi Uddin, a divorced daughter, as well as to other unmarried or widowed daughters, in accordance with their respective shares. The authorities were instructed to complete the distribution preferably within four months.
The petitioner had approached the SHC against the provincial authorities, claiming that her father, who had retired as an assistant professor in the college education department in 1990, passed away in January 2023. She argued that, as a divorced daughter, she, along with her unmarried sister, was entitled to an equal share of the monthly pension and sought a directive for the respondents to release the payments.
In its ruling, the bench pointed out that the executive authority had established rules for the distribution of pension benefits to the families of deceased employees. Under Sub-rule 2(A) of Rule 4(10), the widow was excluded from receiving pension benefits for other legal heirs.
The bench further explained that, if the deceased pensioner had no legal heirs in Category A, the legal heirs in Category B were entitled to pension benefits. This includes the father, followed by the mother, the eldest surviving brother under 21, the eldest surviving unmarried sister, the eldest widowed sister, and then the divorced daughter. The rules from 1977 had placed divorced daughters in this last category.
The bench also noted that in 1983, recognizing the difficulties faced by divorced and widowed daughters, the finance ministry had updated the Pension Rules through an office memorandum. This change granted divorced daughters the same status as unmarried daughters, placing them within the scope of Category A in Rule 4(10) of the Pension Rules.
The court emphasized that pension is a fundamental right for the bereaved family and cannot be denied arbitrarily, as was the case with the petitioner. The bench further observed that the government’s decision to provide divorced daughters with equal treatment under the law was commendable, as it helps alleviate the financial burden they face.