SC upholds job rights of widows

Express Tribune

23-04-2025

In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has ruled that the right to compassionate employment granted to a widow under the prime minister's assistance package cannot be rescinded solely on the grounds of her subsequent remarriage.
A five-page judgment authored by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah upheld the Lahore High Court decision, reaffirming that financial independence was not a favour extended to women, but a cornerstone of their dignity and full participation in public life.
"We reaffirm that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 ('Constitution'), secures fundamental rights for individuals as equal citizens, not as appendages of patriarchal roles or marital identities," the judgement read.
"Women are not defined by the men in their lives; they are autonomous and rights-bearing individuals," it stressed.
The top court noted that denying a woman the right to employment on the basis of her remarriage is a blatant reinforcement of patriarchal control, seeking to subordinate her legal identity to societal expectations.
"Financial independence is not a concession to women, it is the foundation of their constitutional agency, dignity, and full participation in public life. The law must dismantle, not perpetuate, the structures that reduce women to secondary citizens in the eyes of society."
The case stemmed from the plight of a respondent whose husband, an employee of the Income Tax Department, passed away in service on February 14, 2006.
She was later appointed as a Lower Division Clerk (LDC) on a two-year contract on May 26, 2010, under the Prime Minister's Assistance Package for Families of Deceased Government Employees. The contract was extended multiple times.
However, her services were terminated via an order dated January 4, 2016, issued by the Secretary (MGT) IR-V, Federal Board of Revenue (HRM), Islamabad. The basis was an Office Memorandum (O.M.) dated December 15, 2015, which held that a widow becomes ineligible for compassionate employment upon remarriage.
Seeking redress, the respondent approached the LHC, which ruled in her favour. The FBR later challenged the decision before the Supreme Court.
The division bench of the apex court took up the crucial question: Can the right to compassionate employment under the Prime Minister's Assistance Package be withdrawn merely because a widow has remarried?
The verdict dismantles the justification underpinning the O.M., branding it "manifestly discriminatory" as it targets widows - female spouses of deceased government employees - for disqualification upon remarriage, while sparing widowers.