Supreme Court of Pakistan
Pakistan Bait ul Mal through Managing Director, Islamabad v. Raj Ram and others
Published on this website
C.M.A. No. 1477 of 2023 in Civil Petition No. 5250 of 2023
Citation: Approved for reporting; reported citation not stated in supplied copy
Background
Background
Supreme Court held courts may refer deserving persons to Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, but the form, amount and duration of aid ordinarily remain for PBM.
A widowed Hindu mother sought maintenance for her two minor daughters from their paternal grandfather after the children's father died. The grandfather was himself aged, infirm and destitute. The Sindh High Court held that he bore no personal maintenance obligation in the circumstances, then directed Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal to register the girls as beneficiaries and pay each Rs. 10,000 per month with a 10 percent annual increase until marriage.
Questions of judicial referral and Bait-ul-Mal assistance
Questions of judicial referral and Bait-ul-Mal assistance
Whether the Sindh High Court was justified in directing Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal to support two minor children, and what course courts should adopt in future cases where a person appears deserving of Bait-ul-Mal assistance.
Court holding
What the Court decided
A court may identify an apparently deserving person and refer the case to Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal for consideration. The form, quantum and duration of assistance must ordinarily be determined by Bait-ul-Mal under its statute, policies, eligibility process, budget and available resources rather than fixed in advance by the court.
Final outcome
Final outcome
The application for permission to file and argue was allowed. The civil petition was dismissed and the Sindh High Court's direction was left undisturbed for the two minors, particularly because Bait-ul-Mal expressed willingness to assist them. The Court prescribed a referral-and-assessment framework for future cases.
Practical effect
What the decision means in practice
The application for permission to file and argue was allowed. The civil petition was dismissed and the Sindh High Court's direction was left undisturbed for the two minors, particularly because Bait-ul-Mal expressed willingness to assist them. The Court prescribed a referral-and-assessment framework for future cases.
This summary states the immediate effect recorded in the decision. The original judgment and the facts of the particular case remain controlling.
Key legal principles
Key legal principles
- A court may look beyond the immediate legal question when litigation exposes an unresolved human predicament and may seek assistance from a State institution established to address it.
- There is nothing inherently objectionable in a court bringing an apparently deserving case within the attention of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal.
- Bait-ul-Mal administers finite public welfare resources through programme-specific eligibility, verification, approval, financial limits, budget and available funds.
- In future cases, the normal judicial course is referral for consideration rather than a direction fixing the form, amount, annual increase or duration of assistance.
- Bait-ul-Mal may facilitate the application, assess the person's circumstances under the applicable policy and determine the appropriate form and extent of assistance.
- Articles 35, 36 and 38 place child welfare, minority rights and support for persons unable to earn a livelihood within the constitutional context of the referral.
- The existing direction for the two minors was left undisturbed, particularly because Bait-ul-Mal expressed willingness before the Court to assist them.
- The decision allocates ordinary institutional functions; it does not declare unlawful welfare administration immune from judicial review.
Pakistan relevance
Pakistan relevance
Courts and counsel should place the applicant's hardship and apparent connection with Bait-ul-Mal's statutory purpose on the record, but frame the ordinary relief as referral and facilitation. Applicants should provide the documents required by the current policy. Bait-ul-Mal should identify the applicable programme, eligibility assessment, designated authority and reasons supporting its decision.
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Primary source
Original judgment and official source
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Later treatment
Later treatment
The order is approved for reporting. No reported Supreme Court citation or later judicial treatment has been added as of 8 September 2026. The official Supreme Court record and current Bait-ul-Mal policies should be checked before formal reliance.
Pinpoint research
Exact paragraph and citation links
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Order of Chief Justice Yahya Afridi26 paragraphs
Bait-ul-Mal challenges the Sindh High Court direction
Identifies the order requiring Bait-ul-Mal to register two minor Hindu children and pay each Rs. 10,000 monthly with a 10 percent annual increase until marriage.
The dispute arose from exceptional hardship
Introduces the maintenance claim and the difficult circumstances in which it was brought.
Widow, children and destitute grandfather
Records the father's death, the mother's lack of independent income and the aged grandfather's own poverty and residence in a charitable shelter.
Family Court maintenance decree
Records the order directing the grandfather to pay Rs. 3,000 per month to each child with a 10 percent annual increase and the appellate history.
High Court findings on jurisdiction and personal obligation
Explains that the High Court retained Family Court jurisdiction over non-Muslim family affairs but found no personal maintenance obligation on the grandfather under the law considered.
Legal answer left the children without support
Identifies the unresolved predicament after the grandfather was released from liability and the mother remained unable to maintain the minors.
High Court turns to State welfare institutions
Records reliance on Articles 35, 37 and 38 and the direction requiring Bait-ul-Mal to provide the specified monthly support.
Bait-ul-Mal disputes the method, not the need
Records that Bait-ul-Mal accepted the hardship but objected that the fixed judicial award bypassed statute, policy, eligibility criteria, financial limits and available funds.
Court examines the statutory welfare framework
Introduces the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal Act, policies and institutional report used to understand the available forms of assistance.
Purpose of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal
Describes the autonomous body's statutory purpose of assisting destitute and needy persons and enabling them to live honourably.
Sections 3 and 4 establish and allocate the fund
Explains the fund's sources and the welfare purposes for which its money may be applied, including financial, educational, residential and medical assistance.
Board administration and regulatory authority
Identifies the Board's policy, planning, programme and budget responsibilities under section 5A and regulation-making authority under section 24.
Three programmes relevant to children
Describes Individual Financial Assistance, Schools for Rehabilitation of Child Labour and Pakistan Sweet Homes as distinct welfare programmes.
Each programme has its own assessment process
Explains that assistance depends on programme purpose, eligibility, verification, designated approval, policy and any applicable monetary ceiling.
Assistance operates within an approved budget
Connects section 19's annual estimates with the availability and extent of assistance that Bait-ul-Mal can provide.
Narrow question before the Supreme Court
Frames whether the High Court was justified in turning to Bait-ul-Mal for support of the two minor children.
Welfare resources serve a defined public purpose
Recognizes Bait-ul-Mal as an institutional means for discharging State responsibility toward persons unable to meet basic needs.
Courts may seek help from the responsible institution
Holds that a court may address an underlying predicament by seeking assistance from a State institution established for that purpose.
Present facts demonstrate the need for referral
Explains why the father's death, mother's poverty and grandfather's destitution left no person able and legally responsible to maintain the girls.
Minority status deepened the children's vulnerability
Treats religious minority status as part of the way poverty and loss of family support are experienced, requiring State institutions to remain mindful of that context.
Articles 35, 36 and 38 supply the constitutional context
Connects family and child protection, minority rights and basic necessities for persons unable to earn a livelihood with the High Court's welfare concern.
Bait-ul-Mal agrees to assist the girls
Records counsel's statement that Bait-ul-Mal was willing to extend assistance and would take the necessary steps.
Future precedent still required clarification
Identifies Bait-ul-Mal's remaining concern about fixed judicial directions becoming a precedent despite its statutory assessment framework.
Aid type, amount and duration ordinarily remain for Bait-ul-Mal
Holds that a court may identify an apparently deserving person, but should not pre-empt programme eligibility, verification, approval, budget and resource assessment by fixing the assistance.
Referral-and-assessment framework for future cases
Directs courts to refer deserving cases for consideration, after which Bait-ul-Mal may facilitate the application, assess eligibility and determine appropriate assistance.
Present relief preserved and petition dismissed
Declines interference for the two minors in view of Bait-ul-Mal's willingness to assist, dismisses the petition and applies the new framework to future cases.
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