PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court judge has issued an order to halt the anti-harassment ombudsperson from recording evidence in a property dispute between a Bosnian woman and her stepson in the Swat district until further notice.
The stay order was issued by Chief Justice Musarrat Hilali after hearing an appeal by Swat resident Sikandar Bakht and his mother, Sajida Nasreen, against the ombudsperson’s order.
As per the details, the order was issued under the Enforcement of Women Property Rights Act, 2019, based on a complaint from Bosnian national Jasna Fajkovic.
The ombudsperson had ordered witnesses to a deed to be examined. The appellants argued that the ombudsperson had no authority to establish a right and that the deed had yet to be proved.
According to the Bosnian woman, her stepson and brothers-in-law were attempting to deprive her of the property given to her by her late Pakistani husband.
She had filed a complaint with the ombudsperson under Section 4 of the Act, which allows any woman deprived of ownership or possession of her property by any means to file a complaint.
The counsel argued that cases about the recording of evidence were to be referred to a civil court and that the impugned order was not tenable in the eyes of the law, requiring a judicial review by the high court.
Source: DAWN
