News Detail
Event Title: Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro, Convener Sub-Committee of The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice Presiding over a Meeting of The Committee at Parliament House Islamabad
Event Date: 2025-04-14
A meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Law & Justice, chaired by Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro, was convened on April 14, 2025, in Islamabad. The purpose of the meeting was to examine the report on the legislative proposals contained in The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was introduced by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri during the Senate sitting held on September 9, 2024.
The sub-committee members unanimously emphasized the need for the swift resolution of divorce cases, which often remain pending in Family Courts for extended periods. Members highlighted the financial hardships faced by divorcees and their children during these delays and stressed the importance of fixing a monthly interim maintenance amount for their sustenance.
Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, the mover of the bill, elaborated that divorce proceedings often remain sub judice in the Family Courts for years, resulting in significant financial difficulties for women and affected children. She noted that approximately 90 percent of women in Pakistan do not have an independent source of income, leaving them without any monetary support is a cruel act. She underlined the need for a legally fixed maintenance amount to support the affected parties.
The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2024 proposes that the Court shall, at the first hearing, fix a maintenance amount for the divorcee and her children. It further stipulates that if the defendant fails to pay the fixed maintenance amount by the fourteenth day of each month, their defense shall be struck off, and the Family Court shall decree the suit for maintenance based on the averments in the plaint and any supporting documentation on record.
The Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Law and Justice stated that similar amendments have recently been enacted in the province of Punjab, and clarified that the Ministry’s jurisdiction is limited to the federal domain.
Convener Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro remarked that, under Article 35 of the Constitution, the State is liable to protect the marriage, the family, the mother, and the child. He stressed that leaving a divorcee and her children without any monetary support establishes a grave societal concern. Senator Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan virtually attended the meeting and endorsed the remarks of the Convener Committee. While mentioning the importance of bill, she encouraged the mover of bill and stressed upon to introduce more bills for the empowerment of women in Pakistan.
Convener Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro and the member committee Senator Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan upon the conclusion of the meeting supported the bill and unanimously passed as introduced and forwarded to the concerned committee for further transmission to the Senate House.