No inheritance of wife if she dies first
PLJ 2011 Lahore 775 · Lahore High Court (Multan Bench)
This case was about who should inherit the land of a deceased man, Muhammad Razaq. After his death in 1982, a mutation (official land record change) listed his wife, daughter, and sister as his legal heirs. However, the petitioners, who were other relatives claiming a share of the inheritance, argued that the wife and daughter had actually disappeared 16-17 years earlier and their whereabouts were unknown, meaning they were presumably already dead before Muhammad Razaq died. If that were true, they would not be entitled to inherit from him, since a person cannot inherit from someone who outlives them.
The respondents countered that the wife and daughter were alive, pointing to a power of attorney document supposedly signed by them in favor of a third relative after the husband's death.
The Lahore High Court found serious problems with this power of attorney document, including inconsistent dates suggesting it had been fabricated or manufactured after the fact. Because the document was unreliable, the Court held that the respondents had failed to prove the wife and daughter were actually alive at the time of the husband's death. The Court ruled that a wife who dies before her husband cannot inherit from him. Since the respondents could not prove the women were alive, the petition was allowed, meaning the lower courts' decisions were overturned in favor of the petitioners.
یہ مقدمہ ایک مرحوم شخص محمد رزاق کی زمین کی وراثت کے بارے میں تھا کہ اس کا حقدار کون ہے۔ 1982 میں ان کی وفات کے بعد، ایک انتقال (سرکاری ریکارڈ میں تبدیلی) میں ان کی بیوہ، بیٹی اور بہن کو ان کے قانونی ورثاء کے طور پر درج کیا گیا۔ تاہم درخواست گزاروں، جو دیگر رشتہ دار تھے اور وراثت میں حصہ دار ہونے کے دعویدار تھے، نے موقف اختیار کیا کہ بیوہ اور بیٹی دراصل 16-17 سال پہلے لاپتہ ہو چکی تھیں اور ان کا کچھ پتہ نہیں تھا، جس کا مطلب یہ تھا کہ وہ غالباً محمد رزاق کی وفات سے پہلے ہی وفات پا چکی تھیں۔ اگر یہ بات درست ہوتی تو وہ ان کی وراثت کی حقدار نہ ٹھہرتیں، کیونکہ کوئی شخص اس شخص کی وراثت کا حقدار نہیں ہو سکتا جو اس کے بعد تک زندہ رہے۔
مدعا علیہان نے اس کے جواب میں کہا کہ بیوہ اور بیٹی زندہ تھیں، اور اس کے ثبوت کے طور پر ایک مختار نامہ پیش کیا جس پر مبینہ طور پر ان دونوں نے شوہر کی وفات کے بعد ایک تیسرے ر