The Sindh High Court (SHC) has reaffirmed the importance of protecting marital rights by ruling that married women employees must be posted at the same location as their husbands. The court’s decision came while hearing a petition filed by a female schoolteacher who had challenged the cancellation of her transfer to Hyderabad.
SHC Reaffirms Wedlock Policy for Married Women
The petitioner, a schoolteacher serving in Naushero Feroz, argued that her husband was employed in Hyderabad and that she had been transferred to the same city under the government’s wedlock policy. However, the Sindh Education Department later canceled her transfer, citing a recruitment-related notification, which led her to approach the court.
A division bench led by Justice Mohammad Saleem Jessar observed that Article 35 of the Constitution requires the state to protect family life. The court remarked that forcing a married woman to work away from her husband. Without justification is irrational and amounts to punishment for no fault of her own.
The SHC clarified that. The Sindh School Education Department’s 2021 notification under the Recruitment Policy could not override the wedlock policy. Which ensures that spouses are entitled to be posted in the same city. It ruled that the teacher’s transfer had been wrongly reversed under the “blanket cover” of the recruitment order.
In its judgment, the court set aside the department’s notification and restored the teacher’s posting in Hyderabad. The court further emphasized that executive authorities must always prioritize family unity. When deciding transfers and postings of female employees, as separation can lead to psychological and financial strain.
Also read How Three Ordinary Men Saved Hundreds from a Deadly Flood
The ruling highlights the judiciary’s commitment to upholding family rights. And ensuring that women in the workforce are not subjected to unnecessary hardship due to arbitrary administrative decisions.
