The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has issued comprehensive guidelines directing civil and revenue courts across Pakistan to strengthen the protection of minors’ property and inheritance rights during legal proceedings.
In a judgment authored by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, the court instructed all civil and revenue courts to determine at the earliest stage of a case whether any party is a minor. Courts must ensure full compliance with Order XXXII of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908, before taking any substantive action.
The FCC ruled that a guardian for a minor can only be appointed after the court confirms there is no conflict of interest. It further directed that no settlement or compromise affecting a minor’s property or inheritance rights should be approved unless the court is satisfied that it is lawful, serves the minor’s best interests, and complies with the CPC.
The court also emphasized that cases involving minors’ property or inheritance must follow the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, where applicable. It instructed judges to exercise greater caution in cases involving illiterate individuals, parda nasheen women, or other vulnerable persons acting on behalf of minors.
The guidelines were issued while hearing a property dispute from Bahawalnagar. The FCC overturned a Lahore High Court judgment that had restored a compromise decree affecting the rights of minor children and a woman. Instead, it reinstated an earlier revisional court order that had set aside the compromise and directed that the case be heard afresh on its merits.
The court observed that disputes involving the rights of minors require careful judicial scrutiny and should never be decided hastily. It also held that a court decree cannot validate an agreement that is legally flawed, noting that the High Court had failed to adequately safeguard the property and inheritance rights of women and minor children.
