Married Women Employees Must Be Posted With Their Spouses

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has emphasized that safeguarding the sanctity of marriage requires ensuring that married women employees are posted at the same location as their husbands.

The ruling came in response to a petition filed by a female schoolteacher who challenged the Sindh Education Department’s decision to withdraw her transfer to Hyderabad, claiming it violated the government’s wedlock policy.

The petitioner stated she was serving in Naushero Feroz while her husband worked in Hyderabad. She had initially been transferred to Hyderabad under the wedlock policy, but the department later canceled her transfer through a fresh notification. She argued that the cancellation was unlawful, as the wedlock policy guarantees spouses the right to be posted in the same city.

A division bench led by Justice Mohammad Saleem Jessar observed that Article 35 of the Constitution obligates the state to protect family life. The court remarked that keeping a married woman away from her spouse without justification is irrational and amounts to punishment for no wrongdoing.

The bench noted that the Sindh School Education Department’s 2021 notification, issued under the Recruitment Policy, had no connection with transfers made under the wedlock policy. It ruled that the petitioner’s transfer had been wrongly reversed under the “blanket cover” of the recruitment order, without consideration of the wedlock framework.

The court further stressed that executive authorities must prioritize family unity when deciding postings and transfers of female employees, as separation can cause psychological and financial hardship.

Allowing the petition, the SHC set aside the department’s notification and restored the petitioner’s posting in Hyderabad. It declared that she shall be deemed never to have been transferred to Naushero Feroz and ordered her reinstatement under the District Education Officer (Primary), Hyderabad, along with her biometric ID.