سپریم کورٹ نے قرار دیا ہے کہ مسلم فیملی لاء آرڈیننس کے دفعہ 4 کے تحت"پڑپوتے" اولاد کی تعریف میں نہیں آتے۔

2022-SCMR-1131

Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (VIII of 1961)---

--Sec. 4--- Inheritance--- Great grandchildren, share of--- For the purposes of section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 great grandchildren did not fall within the meaning of "children"---Section 4 of the Ordinance applies only to those grandchildren as are living at the time of the death of the propositus---Any extended meaning cannot be given to the said section to cover great grandchildren.

Section 4 of Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 ("Ordinance"), used the words "the children of [the predeceased] son or daughter, if any, living at the time the succession opens". Said words impose a clear limitation i.e. section 4 applied only to those grandchildren as are alive at the time of death of the propositus. Under the rules of Muslim inheritance, the legal heirs of a predeceased son or daughter do not inherit from the parent of the predeceased. Section 4 of the Ordinance carves out a carefully constructed exception from this rule. It is not without significance that the section does not refer to the legal heirs of the predeceased son or daughter.

Read as a whole, the purpose and intent behind section 4 of the Ordinance is clear. The exception created by it is limited and circumscribed. It applies only to those grandchildren as are living at the time of the death of the propositus. An extended meaning cannot be given to the section to cover great grandchildren.