LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) held that a child is legitimate if he born within two years of commencement of dissolution of marriage and birth of a child as specified in article 128 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat provided that the woman remains unmarried after the divorce.

A court cannot allow evidence for disproving the legitimacy of the child once the specified period of two years of commencement of dissolution of marriage and birth of a child is proved, the court added.

The court observed that the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) provides that paternity must be denied by the father within the postnatal period (maximum of 40 days) immediately after the birth of the child.

Therefore, applying the principles of Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act 1962, a person cannot be allowed to deny the paternity after the stipulated period, the court added.

The court passed this order in a petition of Sakhawat Hussain challenging orders of the lower courts dismissing his applications for DNA examination.

The petitioner contracted marriage with the respondent on January 11, 2018; however, later on divorced her on August 17, 2018.

Minor Sadaqat Hussain was born on March 01, 2019 almost after 6 and half months of the dissolution of marriage.

The court; therefore, said under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act 1962, the petitioner cannot be allowed to deny the legitimacy/ paternity of Sadaqat Hussain.

The court said, the petitioner, despite hectic efforts and lengthy arguments, remained unable to persuade this court to interfere in the verdicts of lower courts.

The court dismissing the petition observed that the courts below have rightly dismissed the application of the petitioner.

The court said that women and blameless children have been granted legal protection and a defence against scurrilous stigmatization.

The court said it is becoming a common practice in our society that whenever a suit for recovery of maintenance allowance is filed against a person he comes forward to the court and challenges the legitimacy of the child.

The court said ethically, questioning the paternity of a child during a maintenance suit can be seen as a tactic to evade responsibility rather than a legitimate claim based on evidence.

The court observed that such practice should be discouraged and dealt with an iron hand because encouraging such practices would only serve to erode trust in the family unit and the legal system designed to protect the interests of vulnerable children, the court concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024