01 / ANALYSIS
Overview of the Case
A Shariat petition was instituted under Article 203-D of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 challenging customary practices, specifically named by the petitioner as 'Chaddar' or 'Parchi' in District Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, through which women are deprived of their Sharia-mandated shares in ancestral inheritance. The Court held that relevant state and provincial authorities are obligated to prosecute offenders under Section 498-A of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, observing that eradicating such anti-women practices aligns with state duties under Section 13 of the Enforcement of Shari'ah Act 1991.
02 / ANALYSIS
Brief Facts
Syeda Fouzia Jalaal Shah petitioned the Federal Shariat Court alleging that a local practice known as 'Chaddar' or 'Parchi' was used in parts of District Bannu to deprive women of their inheritance shares, or pressure them to accept less valuable property. She also alleged that her mother, Syeda Iftikhar Bibi, had been denied inheritance from her father and husband. Government departments and provincial bodies provided reports and comments in response. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa officials disputed the existence of practices under those specific names and referred to measures for enforcing women's property rights. The case concerned the alleged practice and the petitioner's family's inheritance dispute.
03 / ANALYSIS
Questions of Law
- Can the Federal Shariat Court grant relief in personam in a petition filed under Article 203-D of the Constitution of Pakistan?
- Whether any local custom or usage that deprives female heirs of their inherited property rights is un-Islamic and devoid of legal force?
04 / ANALYSIS
The Court's Answers
Can the Federal Shariat Court grant relief in personam in a petition filed under Article 203-D of the Constitution of Pakistan?
Answer. No. Proceedings under Article 203-D cannot be used to award an individual claimant personal relief outside the Court's constitutional mandate.
“the relief in-personam sought by the petitioner cannot be granted in Shariat Petition”
Whether any local custom or usage that deprives female heirs of their inherited property rights is un-Islamic and devoid of legal force?
Answer. No. Customs such as 'Chaddar', 'Parchi' or similar devices cannot lawfully extinguish women's prescribed inheritance entitlements.
“we have concluded that the inheritance right of women, if denied, under any form and manner whatsoever on the pretext of local custom or usage, is un-Islamic”
05 / ANALYSIS
Practical Relevance
Families, revenue officials and advisers should not treat local custom as overriding female heirs' entitlement. Individual recovery disputes must still proceed before the competent forum; coercive deprivation may also engage penal law.