The Supreme Court Thursday sought opinion from Federal Shariat Court and Attorney General of Pakistan in the case of a girl who wants deletion of her father's name from her official documents. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was hearing a case, first of its kind, wherein a young girl sought the court's direction for deletion of her father's name from her official documents and instead write 'Bint-e-Pakistan' in them.
Tatheer Fatima, 22, had filed a petition in the apex court for removing her father's name. She claimed that her father had abandoned her in her childhood and that she had never seen him. The petition is basically an appeal against a similar plea which was rejected by the Islamabad High Court on May 17, 2017.
During the proceedings, the Chief Justice said there is no law in the Shariah and on the statute books to remove father's name. Therefore, the bench sought opinion from Justice Dr Fida Hussain, judge of Federal Shariat Court, and appointed Advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan, as amicus curiae (friend of court), and issued notice to Attorney General of Pakistan for assistance.
In the last hearing, the apex court with assistance of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) record had traced Tatheer Fatima's name and address. Therefore the court had summoned her in person.
Shahid Ayub, father of Tatheer Fatima, appeared before the bench. The Chief Justice inquired from him why he had remained an absentee father for years.
He said, "I am a poor man and can't pay compensation."
Tatheer Fatima wept in the court and said: "Why children's life is spoiled in the fight of parents." Fehmida Butt, girl's mother, said she does not need pecuniary benefit as the Tatheer has grown up and she provided her everything required for leading a decent life, but she wants compensation for disgrace and dishonor she had to face as her ex-husband disowned her.
She said that her former husband always maligned her and told people she is not of good character as had relations with other men. Director General of FIA Bashir Memon was asked to find out the means and capacity of Shahid Mian so that it could be determined what amount he should pay as compensation.
In her petition, Tatheer Fatima, who added the words of "Bint-e-Pakistan" to her name and appeared in person before the apex court, said whenever she took her case to lawyers they started making fun of her. She claimed that she had never seen her father and that her father's name even in her birth certificate had wrongly been mentioned. Tatheer Fatima raised an important question in her petition: "Whether or not an individual who abandons his child either before or after birth can be called the father of that child." She also asks if a child can be entitled to be registered as a citizen of Pakistan without identifying the parents.
Law secretary, director general Immigration and Passport Department and National Database and Registration Authority have been named as respondents in the petition.
The high court, she pleaded, had failed to appreciate before dismissing her plea that she was not seeking any treatment in accordance with the law - instead a remedy which was above the prevailing laws. The high court should have satisfied itself that there was no remedy available under the law.
Fatima also questioned NADRA's earlier attempt of seeking a 'fatwa' from a religious authority of Saudi Arabia and Iran to formulate a policy about the registration of orphans in Pakistan. She said she did not feel like an orphan in the presence of her mother Fehmida Butt.
"The use of word orphan for me is an insult to my loving mother and Pakistan," she contended, highlighting that her status should be determined under the Constitution of Pakistan rather than in the light of customs in Saudi Arabia or Iran.
She said in the petition that she did not accept any other human as equal to her mother or a partner in her upbringing. She said she was seeking protection and not another parent, adding that her mother was enough for her. "Where does the Constitution mention father or husband when the mother is a recognized status of a woman who bears a child but no man is recognized as father of the child unless he discharges the duties as laid down in the Holy Quran."
She asked how the Article 5 of the Constitution, which demands loyalty to the state, would deal with a person who has no sense of loyalty and belonging.
The case was adjourned for 10 days.