The Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court has held that Punjab’s move to stop family pensions for widowed, divorced and unmarried daughters of deceased government employees was unconstitutional. The court ordered that payments be restored to all affected women.
Justice Ahsan Raza Kazmi announced the reserved verdict on a petition brought by Falak Shah and former District Bar Association Rawalpindi president Tanveer Sohail Shah. The bench rejected the case put forward by the Punjab Finance Department and the assistant advocate general.
What the 2024 notification changed
In 2024, the Punjab Finance Department issued a notification that confined family pension eligibility to widows. After that change, family pensions for daughters of thousands of employees across 42 government departments in Punjab were stopped.
Family pension here means the ongoing pension paid to eligible dependents after a government employee’s death. The petitioners’ counsel told the court that divorced, widowed and unmarried daughters in other provinces of Pakistan still qualify for such pensions, while the Punjab notification removed that cover for women in this province.
Why the court struck it down
Counsel argued that the cut breached Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality among citizens, and that daughters in Punjab were being treated differently from those elsewhere in the country. The court accepted those arguments.
It annulled the Finance Department notification and directed that family pensions be restored for all eligible daughters in Punjab. The order covers women who were cut off under the 2024 rule and requires the province to resume payments.
What happens next for affected families
The judgment places the onus on Punjab to reverse the discontinuation and pay the women who lost cover after the notification. How quickly departments process arrears and restart monthly payments will depend on administrative follow-through across the affected departments.
Eligible daughters of deceased Punjab government employees who were dropped from the family pension rolls under the 2024 limit should watch for restoration instructions from their late parent’s department or pension office once the order is implemented.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Lahore High Court ne kaha hai ke Punjab sarkar ka daughters ki family pension band karna ghalat tha. Widowed, divorced aur unmarried betiyan phir se is pension ki haqdar hain. 2024 wali notification khatam kar di gayi hai. Mutasira aurton ko payments wapas milni chahiye.
