No concept of disassociation, SC remarks on petition seeking surname tweak

No concept of dissociation in the eye of laws, Justice Ahsan said in earlier hearing

The Supreme Court (SC) observed on Thursday that there was no legal provision on disassociation.

The top court said there was no law governing the axing of a father's name from a child's in connection with the Tatheer Fatima case. The petitioner had approached the court seeking her father's name to be axed from official documents.

The petitioner's father and a National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) representative appeared before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar hearing the case. Justice Nisar questioned Tatheer's father on why he had remained an absentee father for years.



"The girl wants to get your name removed. She wants it changed to Tatheer Fatima Bint-e-Pakistan."

The petitioner claimed she had approached her father in connection with some documents wanted in connection with matriculation. She said he had asked her to tell police her mother was a woman of lose character and that she did not want to live with her.

CJP Nisar ordered the father to provide financial compensation to the petitioner over his absence. To this, the man said he came from an underprivileged background.  The court then ordered the FIA to look into his finances.



The SC also appointed Makhdoom Ali Khan and Fida Hussain as amicus in the case and issued a notice to the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP).  Hearing of the case has been adjourned till September 23.

In an earlier hearing, the CJP commented hearing such a case was a career first.

The petitioner’s mother Fehmida Butt said if the law allowed a father to disown a child, it should also permit a child to disassociate.

“No concept of dissociation in law", Justice Ahsan, part of the three-member bench hearing the case, had replied. The petitioner was then directed to furnish pertinent details and a notice was issued to the 'missing' father.