- The Lahore High Court ordered the provincial authority to prepare the rules within 90 days.
- The petitioner says that many members of the Christian community are facing problems.
- NADRA registration policy allows change of marital status based on affidavit.
gave Lahore High Court (LHC) On Wednesday, it directed the Punjab government to frame rules within 90 days under which union councils will issue divorce papers to members of Christian and other non-Muslim communities in Pakistan.
In many parts of the country, union councils do not issue divorce certificates to non-Muslims instead claiming that such certificates were “not issued to them”. Christian community“This is a problem for members of the said community because without a divorce certificate, they do not request to update their marital status from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) while applying for the renewal of their identity cards. can
This matter was brought to the attention of the Lahore High Court during the Shamaila Sharif v. Secretary Union Council etc. case.
In his appeal, the petitioner pleaded that the court’s writ of mandamus – an order by a court to order an inferior public servant to properly command a public servant – is against the Union Council concerned and to issue him a certificate of divorce. Directs.
Proceedings of the case
The application was heard on December 16 last year and its presiding judge was Justice Tariq Saleem Shaikh.
During the proceedings, advocate Umar Saeed, the petitioner’s counsel, said that many members of the Christian community are facing this problem and this is not an isolated incident.
Referring to Section 33 (1) (j) of the Punjab Local Government Act 2022 (PLGA 2022) – which mandates Union Councils to ensure registration of births, deaths, marriages and divorces for all communities without discrimination — and Article 36 of the Constitution, which expressly requires the State to protect the legitimate rights and interests of minorities, counsel argued that the council failed to discharge its statutory duty by refusing to issue the required certificate. happening
Moreover, the court’s amicus curiae advocate Kashif Sikandar on the matter argued that obtaining a divorce certificate is a legal right that cannot be denied.
Both together emphasize that while the Constitution of Pakistan (1973) does not expressly guarantee the right to identity, Article 9 (right to life) and Article 14 (human dignity) protect this right. . Therefore, any citizen whose marital status changes due to dissolution through divorce has the fundamental right to obtain a divorce certificate from the competent authority and then update/revise his CNIC.
The Additional Advocate General has little to defend the respondents and said that the provincial government was taking steps to address the grievances of the Christian community regarding non-issuance of divorce certificates.
Decision
During the proceedings, it was brought to the court’s attention that Of Nadra Registration Policy dated 06.04.2021 (Version 5.0.2) allowed change of marital status of divorcee on the basis of affidavit in prescribed form.
In light of this, the court directed that until the provincial government framed the rules required for the issuance of triple talaq by the Union Council, NADRA would accommodate the Christian community as per registration policy 19.