The Supreme Court of Pakistan has canceled the dismissal of a married woman from her role as primary school teacher, judging that she is entitled to employment under the quota of the employee of the deceased government.
A bench of two judges, led by judge Mansoor Ali Shah and judge Athar Minallah, made a verdict written on a appeal filed by the woman, whose appointment had been canceled by an education official of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Karak district. The officer’s decision had been made without issuing a notice of justification.
In the decision of nine pages, judge Shah said that the dismissal of the woman was based on a clarification letter which argued that the candidates married to deceased employees were not eligible for employment under the quota of the deceased. The letter, which the court deemed discriminatory, indeed excluded the married girls from eligibility, despite no restriction of this type existing in rule 10 (4) of the relevant employment regulations.
Judge Shah said that the legal rights and autonomy of a woman are not deleted by marriage. “The personality of a woman does not depend on her matrimonial state,” said the verdict, highlighting the discriminatory nature of the rule.
He stressed that the establishment’s service did not have the power to issue clarifications that modify the rules, a power that belongs exclusively to the governor.
The judgment has strengthened the constitutional rights of women, noting that the exclusion of married girls violated not only the legal framework of Pakistan, but also international obligations, including the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW).
The Supreme Court also ordered the ministry concerned to restore women in its post, with all the previous advantages, and stressed the importance of gender -sensitive language in legal and administrative practices.
