| Citation(s) |
|---|
| 2022 SLG 954 2022 SLD 954 = 2022 SCMR 1131 = 2022 SCP 84 = 2022 PLJ 237 |
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Civil Petition No. 3011 of 2021, decision Dated: 08-02-2022(On appeal against the judgment Dated 19.02.2021 passed bythe Islamabad High Court, Islamabad in R.F.A. No. 281 of2020)
MUNIB AKHTAR, JUSTICE, QAZI MUHAMMAD AMIN AHMED, JUSTICE
Mir Afzal Malik, Advocate Supreme Court for Petitioners.Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi, Advocate Supreme Court for
Respondent No. 13.
Civil Petition No. 3011 of 2021, decision Dated: 08-02-2022(On appeal against the judgment Dated 19.02.2021 passed bythe Islamabad High Court, Islamabad in R.F.A. No. 281 of2020)
MUNIB AKHTAR, JUSTICE, QAZI MUHAMMAD AMIN AHMED, JUSTICE
Mir Afzal Malik, Advocate Supreme Court for Petitioners.Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi, Advocate Supreme Court for
Respondent No. 13.
HASSAN AZIZ AND OTHErsVSMERAJ UD DIN AND OTHErs
Law: Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961
Section: 4
Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973
Section: 203F
Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (VIII of 1961)-------S. 4--- Inheritance--- Great grandchildren, share of--- For the purposes of section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 great grandchildren did not fall within the meaning of �children�---Section 4 of the Ordinance applies only to those grandchildren as are living at the time of the death of the propositus---Any extended meaning cannot be given to the said section to cover great grandchildren.Section 4 of Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 (Ordinance), used the words the children of [the predeceased] son or daughter, if any, living at the time the succession opens. Said words impose a clear limitation i.e. section 4 applied only to those grandchildren as are alive at the time of death of the propositus. Under the rules of Muslim inheritance, the legal heirs of a predeceased son or daughter do not inherit from the parent of the predeceased. Section 4 of the Ordinance carves out a carefully constructed exception from this rule. It is not without significance that the section does not refer to the legal heirs of the predeceased son or daughter.Read as a whole, the purpose and intent behind section 4 of the Ordinance is clear. The exception created by it is limited and circumscribed. It applies only to those grandchildren as are living at the time of the death of the propositus. An extended meaning cannot be given to the section to cover great grandchildren.ORDER:MUNIB AKHTAR, JUSTICE:----.----The petitioners seek leave to appeal against a judgment of the Islamabad High Court dated 19.02.2021, reported as Hassan Aziz and others v. Meraj-ud-Din and others 2021 CLC 1821. At the conclusion of the hearing it was announced that the leave petition stood dismissed. The following are our reasons for this decision.2. The question of law raised for the consideration of the Court is as follows: are great grandchildren within the meaning of �children� for the purposes of section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 (�Ordinance�)? The said section is as follows:�4. Succession.---In the event of the death of any son or daughter of the propositus before the opening of succession, the children of such…