Lahore High Court voids notification dismissing widow from govt job after second marriage

The Lahore High Court invalidated a notification of the dismissal of a widow from her government job after she married again.

A two-member bench of the provincial top court issued a written decision on Zoya Islam’s written appeal.

The bench was headed by Justice Chaudhry Iqbal.

The applicant argued that after the death of her husband, who was a government servant, she got the job of Naib Qasid in 2020. She married for the second time in 2021. However, on the basis of remarriage, she was dismissed from the job after being told that she was no longer eligible for the job.

The court ruled that the job given to the widow of a government servant cannot be terminated after her second marriage. After the death of the husband, the widow will not be dismissed from the government job because the widow has the right to remarry.

“This is the basic right of a woman given to her by our religion,” the court said in the written decision.

The court further added that firing a widow from a job on the basis of second marriage is a violation of Sharia law.
Lahore High Court quoted the Supreme Court’s decision asserting the unlawfulness of dismissing a widow from a job on account of remarriage.

The court annulled the eviction notice given to Zoya Islam and allowed her to continue the job.