Category: National

Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal of Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that a non-Muslim can’t inherit a Muslim relative’s property, neither as a successor nor a predecessor. 

When hearing a case pertaining to the devolution of land among inheritors, the judge issued the verdict upholding the decisions of two lower courts. The case centres around the devolution of land spanning over 83 kanals in Gojra tehsil of district Toba Tek Singh.

As per the details of the case, after the Muslim owner passed away, the property was devolved to his three sons and two daughters.

However, a Muslim grandson of the deceased challenged the mutation in favour of one of his uncles while alleging that the uncle was an Ahmadi by faith and that he could not inherit property from his deceased Muslim father.

During the legal process of cross-examination, one of the heirs of the non-Muslim man also testified that his father was an Ahmadi.

The lower courts decreed in favour of the grandson, who had asked for the cancellation of the legal mutations. 

However, the Lahore High Court observed that it was established that the man was an Ahmadi by faith, but he did not disclose this position while incorporating the inheritance mutation of his Muslim father. 

“It is settled law that admitted facts need not be prov­ed,” the judge maintained.

Justice Iqbal emphasised that according to Sharia, property left by a deceased Muslim landowner cannot be inherited by a non-Muslim heir. To explain further, the honourable judge quoted the sayings of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) from Vol. 4 of Sahih Muslim, asserting, “A Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever, and a disbeliever does not inherit from a Muslim.”

The High Court asserted that in pre-partition times, British law protected the personal laws of the different communities living in India.

Similarly, Muslim Personal Laws were also made applicable to Muslims through the Muslim Shariat Application Act of 1937. 

Resultantly, the principles of the Holy Quran and Sunnah are applicable to the inheritance of the estate of a deceased Muslim.

Quoting these facts, Judge Iqbal said that a non-Muslim was not entitled to inherit any share from the estate of his Muslim relative as either a successor or a predecessor. 

Additionally, the provisions of Article 260(3), defining the terms for Muslim and non-Muslim for legal purposes, are applicable here as well.

The top court said that the trial court rightly ruled the suit, which was lawfully upheld by the appellate court.

While dismissing the petition, the Judge concluded in the verdict, “The concurrent findings of fact are against the petitioners which do not call for any interference by this court in the exercise of its revisional jurisdiction in the absence of any illegality or any error of jurisdiction.”

Women’s participation in technology and digital spaces, especially pertaining to economy, remains “alarmingly low” a report by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has revealed.

The report, originally compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and titled “Bridging the Digital Gender Divide”, revealed that approximately 327 million fewer women have access to smartphones and mobile internet globally, as compared to men.

In Pakistan, as access to technology and internet access increases with time, the issue of digital gender divide remains at a concerning level, the report revealed and added that the country ranked among the lowest in terms of gender parity and digital inclusion.

PTA’s report quoted three separate reports, including the Global Gender Gap Report 2024, the Mobile Connectivity Index 2023, and the Inclusive Internet Index. It highlighted “significant gaps in female education, mobile ownership and internet usage, underscoring the need to bridge the digital divide and promote equitable access to technology”.

The report asserted that key challenges faced by women were “limited digital literacy, restricted access to financial services (such as bank accounts), absence of computerized national identity cards (CNIC) for nearly 25 percent of adult women, high costs of devices and broadband, scarcity of local content, safety concerns, and patriarchal controls”.

In Pakistan, out of a total of 60.4 million users of Facebook, 77 percent are men while 24 percent are women. YouTube has 71.7 million users, of which only 28 percent are women. Meanwhile, TikTok has 54.4 million users, which include only 22 percent women. 

Last but not the least, Instagram has 17.3 million users, of which 36 percent are women.

However, the PTA said, it has developed the Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy under the patronage of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications. The strategy is built with the help of Unesco Pakistan and would address “the barriers hindering women’s access to mobile”, setting “forth an accelerated action plan with an implementation roadmap, timelines, and measurable outcomes”.

Notably, the PTA also recently announced the laying down of a major undersea cable that is expected to enhance connection speeds in the country and address longstanding concerns of slow connection speeds and internet outages.

In an interesting development, a social media user has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to highlight various allegations of corruption against United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump’s aide Richard Grenell, after asking X’s AI chatbot Grok-2 about it.

Grenell has garnered a massive following in Pakistan ever since he called for the release of former prime minister (PM) Imran Khan from prison.

Amid social media spats between government and Imran Khan supporters, a netizen with the handle @RShahzaddk on Thursday posted screenshots of alleged details of corruption provided by the AI assistant.

“State-of-the-art AI assistant Grok-2 highlights @RichardGrenell’s undisclosed work for Moldovan oligarch Plahotniuc and Hungarian government-funded entities — raising serious questions about transparency and FARA compliance. Why the silence on these conflicts of interest, Ambassador?” he wrote.

“Richard Grenell, a former US diplomat and political figure, has been subject to various allegations regarding corruption, primarily related to his professional activities before and during his time in public office [sic],” he quoted the AI chatbot as saying.

“Advocacy work for a Moldovan Politician: Grenell was accused of not disclosing payments for advocacy work on behalf of Vladimir Plahotniuc, a Moldovan politician who the we [sic] later accused of corruption. Grenell wrote op-eds defending Plahotniuc without disclosing any financial ties, which could potentially violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA),” Grok added.

It further said that there have been concerns about Grenell’s foreign consultancy work, particularly with clients in countries like Moldova where he was alleged to have worked without registering under FARA “This has raised questions about the transparency of his dealings and the potential for conflicts of interest, especially given his later roles in the US intelligence and diplomacy.”

The post comes as Pakistanis continue to argue over Grenell’s newfound interest in Pakistani politics and his support for incarcerated former premier Khan. Trump’s aide had on December 16 posted a screenshot of a Geo News Urdu article with a headline translated in English as “Homosexual Richard Grenell appointed as Trump’s envoy” with the caption, “I’ll say it again, @geonews_urdu: Free Imran Khan.”

Expectedly, the post went viral, with most PTI supporters and leaders appreciating the US official for raising his voice for the Khan.

Grenell had also previously voiced his support for the incarcerated premier on his official X account. This had prompted PTI supports to celebrate and congratulate Grenell on his nomination as the presidential envoy for special missions by Trump.

Since then, Grenell has been consistently engaging with PTI supporters’ accounts while echoing their calls for Khan’s release.

Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) has installed Pakistan’s first-ever ‘smog tower’ in Lahore in an attempt to reduce air pollution and smog in the provincial capital.

Officials have told local media that the performance of the smog tower installed in Mehmood Booti will be monitored to allow an informed decision about installing more towers in the future. 

The tower, currently 20 feet high, can be extended to 50 feet. 

It will consume a low amount of electricity and has the capacity to be run on solar and battery power. 

The tower has been manufactured in Pakistan after a detailed study of smog towers manufactured by renowned companies abroad.

However, the cost of the locally developed tower is three times lower than that of the internationally manufactured tower.

Experiments with the tower had been conducted before the final installation. An official of the manufacturing company told the media that before installing the smog tower in Lahore, the company conducted laboratory tests and more tests at various polluted sites in Islamabad and Gujranwala.

Mahmood Booti area of Lahore has been selected because it has the highest air pollution. 

Environment Protection Agency has claimed that after the installation of the tower, the AQI in the neighbourhood has come down from 1600 to 250 in a few days. 
It is expected that if 200 towers are installed in different parks, shopping centres and commercial areas throughout Lahore, the city can be free from smog.

Director General of the Environment Protection Department Punjab Imran Hamid Shaikh, addressing a presser, said that the smog tower will be able to filter up to 50,000 cubic feet of air per hour over an area of one kilometre. “The field test of the tower will be conducted for 15 days, during which its ability to clear up pollutants caused by chimneys, industries and dumping sites will be ascertained.”

He stated that the environment department will monitor chemical pollutants in the air via air quality monitors, and if the experiment proves successful, more towers will be installed. 

Notably, the project is not incurred by the Punjab government and the experiment is being conducted with the support of private sector engineers. Meanwhile, the environment protection departments will stand by private entities assisting with the cause.