📝 AI Summary — Plain-Language Overview
This case is about a dispute over whether a father had to pay maintenance (financial support) for a child he claimed was not his own.
The father, Zaheer Ahmad, had been ordered by a Family Court, and then by an Appellate Court, to pay monthly maintenance for a minor child. He challenged this before the Lahore High Court, arguing that the child could not be his because the child was born on 7 November 2004, while his wife had allegedly been living separately from him since 2 December 2003 - meaning the child was born about eleven months and five days after the couple separated. He therefore claimed the child was illegitimate and that he should not be responsible for maintaining him.
The High Court rejected this argument. It held that questions of a child's legitimacy are extremely serious and must not be decided lightly, based merely on a husband's denial or accusation. Under Islamic law, a child born within a lawful marriage is presumed legitimate - "the child follows the bed" - and courts always lean towards upholding legitimacy unless there is strong, convincing evidence to the contrary. The father had provided no real proof of illegitimacy, and importantly, he had never gone to the appropriate court to invoke "Li'an" (the specific legal procedure for disowning paternity).
As a result, the court upheld the lower courts' decisions, confirmed the child as legitimate, and ordered the father to continue paying maintenance. The case is significant because it reinforces strong legal protection for children's legitimacy and rights to support, placing a heavy burden on anyone trying to deny paternity.
یہ مقدمہ اس تنازعے سے متعلق ہے کہ آیا ایک باپ کو اس بچے کا نان و نفقہ (مالی کفالت) ادا کرنا تھا جسے وہ اپنا بچہ ماننے سے انکار کر رہا تھا۔
باپ، ظہیر احمد، کو فیملی کورٹ اور پھر اپیلٹ کورٹ نے ایک نابالغ بچے کے لیے ماہانہ نان و نفقہ ادا کرنے کا حکم دیا تھا۔ اس نے اس فیصلے کو لاہور ہائی کورٹ میں چیلنج کیا اور موقف اختیار کیا کہ یہ بچہ اس کا نہیں ہو سکتا کیونکہ بچہ 7 نومبر 2004 کو پیدا ہوا تھا، جبکہ اس کی مبینہ طور پر 2 دسمبر 2003 سے اس سے علیحدہ رہ رہی تھی - یعنی بچہ میاں بیوی کی علیحدگی کے گیارہ ماہ پانچ دن بعد پیدا ہوا۔ اس بنا پر اس نے دعویٰ کیا کہ بچہ ناجائز ہے اور اسے اس کی کفالت کا ذمہ دار نہیں ٹھہرایا جا سکتا۔
ہائی کورٹ نے اس دلیل کو مسترد کر دیا۔ عدالت نے قرار دیا کہ بچے کی نسب کی جائزیت کا معاملہ انتہائی سنگین نوعیت کا ہے اور محض شوہر کے انکار یا الزام کی
Generated from the full judgment text below — not a substitute for reading the actual opinion.
Citation Name : 2007 CLC 1145 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE Side Appellant : ZAHEER AHMAD Side Opponent : Mst. NASIMAN BIBI alias NASIM BIBI ---S. 5---Constitution of Pakistan (1973), Art. 199---Constitutional petition---Legitimacy of child ---Maintenance---Family Court as well as Appellate Court burdened the father with monthly maintenance of the minor child ---Father denied maintenance on the ground that child was born on 7-11-2004, at a point of time when the spouse had been living in desertion since, 2-12-2003 and the child was born after 11 months and 5 days from desertion---Validity---Father was denying maintenance to the child , disowning him as his issue and accusing mother of the child of having given birth to an illegitimate child ---Question of legitimacy of child had a far reaching impact, therefore, determination of such question should not be taken lightly---Allegation by husband, or his act of disowning child born out of wedlock, should not be given weight, without strict proof in such regard to the contrary---Paternity of child born out of lawful wedlock, had a presumption of truth in its favour---Simple denial would not take away status of legitimacy and according to Islamic Law, "child follows the bed"---Every presumption was made in favour of legitimacy of child and was presumed to be an issue of his parents without any acknowledgement or affirmation of parentage on the part of father---Courts had always leaned in favour of legitimacy of a child , in absence of any cogent evidence to the contrary---No proof on record was available to support the contention of father that child was illegitimate ---Moreso, when father had not approached the court of competent jurisdiction for Li'an thus the child who was born in wedlock was a legitimate child and as such entitled to be maintained by father--Judgments and decrees passed by two Courts below were maintained---Petition was dismissed in circumstances.