ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that using infertility or mere suspicion as a weapon to target women is illegal.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb issued the verdict on a petition filed against a ruling of the Peshawar High Court in a case related to maintenance (nafaqah), Haq mehr, and return of dowry.
In the seven-page judgment, the chief justice stated that infertility, even if proven, cannot be a legal ground for denying dower or maintenance, nor can it be used to question a woman’s femininity. He warned that false and humiliating accusations aimed at degrading women will not be tolerated in courts.
The bench noted that social bias often turns courts into spaces where women face degrading treatment under the guise of legal scrutiny.
While the petitioner may have seen the matter as personal, the court found his persistent and aggressive pursuit of the accusation across three judicial forums deeply troubling.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and imposed a fine of Rs. 500,000 on the petitioner, ordering that the amount be paid to victim Mehnaz Begum.
The landmark decision has been seen as a major step toward protecting women from misuse of the legal system for character assassination and social stigma.
