Author(s):Mushtaq Ahmad Jadoon, Dr. Rashid Khan
Abstract :
Denial to female share in family land and property is a common practice
in Pakistan. Legal institutions are developed to ensure the implantation
of laws in a country. Present study aimed to find out the role of legal
institutions in the transfer of family inheritance rights to females in
Pakistan. Data for the study were collected from the 384 respondents
belonging to the both rural and urban areas of District Peshawar, Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. The results report a dysfunctional role of the major legal
institutions in the study area. The Supreme and high courts made
landmark decisions in favor of females land rights in Pakistan, while the
lower courts, police and revenue department on the other hand could not
found play their due role. Consequently, inheritance denial was still
common to such extent that many of the women were found hesitated to
contact the legal institutions. This can be attributed to patriarchy, male
domination in legal institutions, long and cumbersome procedure, the
attitude of governmental officials, the social and financial costs of
litigation, purdah system and lack of female knowledge about legal
procedures and even their legal land rights. It is suggested to be
corrected through generating a conducive environment for females in
getting their due land and property rights through strict law enforcement,
change in land transfer procedures, attitude of governmental officials
and discouraging parallel social courts and procedures at communi