Islamabad:
The Supreme Court ruled that a person’s daughter does not become ineligible for a government employment under the quota of his father after his marriage.
“A woman’s marriage has no impact on her financial independence. Just as a son can be hired under her father’s work quota after marriage, a girl can also a girl,” said judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.
Judge Shah led a division bench also including Judge Athar Minallah who heard a petition on Monday filed by a Zahida received against the decision of a government department not to hire him after the death of his father given his marriage.
During the hearing, the defender General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) cited a decision by former chief Qazi Faez Isa who said that the children of government employees could not be entrusted to jobs on a preferential basis.
Judge Shah said the CD decision in question comes from 2024, while the current case is before that. “The decision does not apply retrospectively. How can you reject the woman after having hired her?”
The lawyer general argued that since the woman is married, she is no longer eligible for a job in place of her late father. Judge Shah asked the head of state law where he was written in law only if a girl gets married, she becomes ineligible for employment after the death of her father.
The bench then accepted the request of Perveen, noting that a detailed judgment would be rendered concerning the economic independence of women and the decision of the Supreme Court on the quota of children later.
The same bench also accepted the petition of a person who did not receive a post in the KP police service simply because he was involved in a drug case.
During the hearing, the defender general of the KP informed the court that the petitioner had been charged under the anti -terrorism law in 2021 for having allegedly possessed “ice” – methamphetamine.
He said that since the petitioner had a criminal affair against him, he no longer maintained a “good character” under police rules and did not suit the recruitment of the police.
Judge Athar Minallah asked why the person should be punished for the rest of his life when he was released from the case.
“It is an absurd logic that even if a person is not proven guilty, his eligibility is always questioned. If the crime of the petitioner was so serious, why was he acquitted during the investigation phase?” asked Judge Shah.
The Advocate General said it was the charge of the accusation that acquitted him and not the police service.
Judge Minallah asked why a person should suffer consequences for the rest of his life if he had been acquitted in a case. The court approved the request to recruit the petitioner as a constable.
