Petition Asks Supreme Court If Missing Persons Should Be Declared Dead 7 Years After Disappearance

Petition Asks Supreme Court If Missing Persons Should Be Declared Dead 7 Years After Disappearance
A petition filed in the Supreme Court has questioned if a missing person should be considered dead seven years after disappearance in case no evidence is available to prove that the person is alive.

The petition was filed by Raja Muhammad Anwar, a citizen of Islamabad. He was represented by Barrister Munawar Iqbal Duggal and Raja Mohammad Farooq. The petitioner challenged a judgement of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) from March 2017 in a case pertaining to dispute over inheritance between two parties.

The dispute emerged due to disappearance of a man who has been missing since 1973. His whereabouts have since been unknown to his family. The missing person is the brother of the petitioner, Muhammad Anwar.

The petitioner argued that in Islam, when an adult Muslim remains missing for more than seven years, he is presumed dead.