The Lahore High Court has ruled that the termination of employment granted to a widow upon the death of her husband cannot be revoked over her remarriage.
The court suspended the dismissal order against the petitioner woman and directed her immediate reinstatement.
In a landmark decision, a two-member bench headed by Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal issued a nine-page ruling in favour of the petitioner, declaring that a widow’s government job should not be terminated if she chooses to remarry.
The court emphasized that the right to remarry is both enshrined in the Shariah and a fundamental right of a woman, and dismissing a widow from employment on these grounds constitutes a violation of Shariah law.
“The law on the basis of which the woman was dismissed, the Supreme Court has already decided on it,” the court ruled and annulled the notification of dismissal of the woman and reinstated her to her position.
The petitioner had been employed as a naib qasid at the Pakistan Mint following her husband’s death in 2020. After remarrying in 2021, she was terminated from government service on the grounds of her second marriage. The petitioner further argued that Islam and Shariah allowed a widow to remarry.
