Advocate High Court,Chairman
Human Right Front int. Pakistani nation is facing ascute problems as the state
is not performing its liabilities.What should be done by a common person for the
welfare of the community. if our govt has enough resource to use for her
advertisement in the news papers, just given Rs.one thousand per month to needy
persons from zakat.It is the liability of the state to perform its duty to
disstribute the funds from the Zakat for the minors and nedy divorced women.here
mainy qestion is that , in our religion it is setteld principle that the state
means welfare state . state is responsible to give necessities of life to its
masses to live.So it is meintion worhy that t our family courts should consider
the principle of the libilitey of the state for the welfare of the minors and
even divorcesd women .if the person who is liable to maintain the minors has
very meager resources then that person how can give maintenence to the minors
so, the state should ready to perform its duty.The liability of a father or a
grandfather to maintain his children or grandchildren in the absence or in case
of inability of their real father to maintain them, has been dealt with at
different times. In the case of Haji Nizam Khan vs Additional District Judge,
Layallpur & Others (PLD 1976 Lahore 930), this concept has been dealt with in
detail along with the liability of the state with regard to the Principles of
Policy enunciated in the Constitution,that this Court in the reported citation,
was of the view that though the judiciary cannot direct organs, authorities and
persons included in definition of state under Article 7 to act according to the
Principles of Policy, yet the superior judiciary is not barred either to set
down a rule for itself to follow Principles of Policy or to declare the same
rule for the subordinate judiciary to act in accordance with the said
Principles. It was also settled in the said citation that there is no bar on the
Superior Judiciary to declare a law in accordance with the said Principles of
Policy. It is a mandate contained in Article 31(1) of theConstitution to take
steps to enable the Muslims of Pakistan, individually and collectively, to order
their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of
Islam. Hence, any organ of the state can be directed by an order of the court to
observe the Principles of Policy in their respective spheres of working.The
state by recognizing its responsibility both at the Federal and Provincial
Level, has constituted institutions for social welfare, including the Bait-ul-Maal,
while Punjab has taken the lead through Punjab Bait-ul-Maal Act VII of 1991,
which was promulgated on 30thMarch 1991. The basic principle of the said
legislation was to provide for the establishment of charitable funds and by
virtue of Section 5 of the said Act, the utilization of the Bait-ul-Maal has
been provided for, which includes relief and rehabilitation of the poor and the
needy, particularly poor widows and orphans, educational assistance to the poor
and deserving students and for other purposes. There are District Bait-ul-Maal
Committees in view of section 7(3) of the said Act working at all district
levels.In addition to the above legislation there is also a Zakat & Ushr
Ordinance (XVIII) , 1980 , which provides the manner of collection of such funds
and their utilization, including assistance to the needy particularly the
orphans and the widows by virtue of Section 8thereof, which is reproduced herein
below:" 8. Utilization of Zakat FundsThe money in Zakat Fund shall be utilized
for the following purposes, namely,(a) assistance to the needy , the indigent
and the poor particularly orphans and widows, the handicapped and the disabled,
eligible to receive Zakat under Shariah for their subsistence or rehabilitation,
either directly or indirectly through Deeni Madaris, or educational, vocational
or social institutions and other institutions providing health care.In the case
of Abdul Majeed vs. Additional District Judge, Faisalabad & 4 others (PLD 2012
Lahore 445) , it was observed that the system of Zakat can be linked up with the
family courts to the extent that if the Family Court is of the view that the
persons liable to pay maintenance are poor and those who should have received
maintenance also fall under the clause of eligible persons entitled to receive
Zakat funds, then suitable directions to Zakat & Ushr Council should also be
issued.The Honourable Lahore High Court, in the citation narrated above said
that the Family Courts in the Province, if reached the conclusion that the
father or the grandfather, as the case may be, are themselves not in the
position within their circumstances to to easily afford to maintain their
dependents, after an inquiry as provided in the CPC for pauperism, then direct
the plaintiffs before the said courts to implead the state as a respondent in
the pending lis and then to direct the relevant organs or authority of the
state, including Bait-ul-Maal and the local governments to regularly pay the
determined maintenance of the minors. Needless to mention here that when the
right of the minors or ladies seeking maintenance has been determined by a court
of law, there will be no further need to verify their claims by the authorities,
which would be directed to pay the maintenance to such needy people.The point of
law has been decided in essence and the benefits of the said Judgment of this
Honourable Court are required to be extended in favour of all those cases of
maintenance wherein the fathers or the grandfathers have deserted to pay the
maintenance to their minor children, thereby badly affecting the welfare of
those minor children.It is therefore suggested that a special fund be made/
allocated by the Government of the Punjab or Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal for the
payment of maintenance allowance to the minor children from where a maintenance
allowance could be regularly paid to the needy minors, in case of boys up till
the age of majority and for the girls till they are married, as the case may be,
if directed by the concerned family court in this respect.It is further
recommended that the Government of the Punjab, or alternatively Punjab Bait-ul-Maal,
should register the names of the affected minors as regular beneficiaries from
the District Bait-ul-Maal.It is further recommended that family/ guardian courts
must undertake an inquiry as envisaged by the Code of Civil Procedure for
pauperism and implicate the state as a respondent in all cases where the fathers
or grandfathers of the minors, as the case may be, are not in a position to
easily afford within their circumstances to maintain their dependents and have
deserted them and their whereabouts are untraceable since the pendency of such
execution/ maintenance suits/ petitions, before them.