Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi has stressed that domestic dispute compensation cases, particularly those involving child maintenance and family financial issues, should not be brought to the Supreme Court.

During a hearing on Thursday, a petition challenging a child maintenance order issued by a lower court was dismissed by a two-member bench led by CJP Afridi and Justice Shakeel Ahmed. The court upheld the original ruling, which ordered the father to pay Rs25,000 per month for the maintenance of his minor child.

The petitioner’s lawyer argued that the fixed amount was excessive for a child. However, Justice Shakeel Ahmed rejected the claim, stating, “This is your own child, so Rs25,000 is not too much.”

CJP Afridi emphasized that family courts are the appropriate forum for such matters and that routine financial disputes in domestic settings should be resolved at the lower court level. “Once a family court has made a decision, that should be the final word. Such cases shouldn’t burden the apex court,” he stated.

The court reiterated that family courts are better equipped to handle domestic financial disputes in a timely and contextual manner, and escalating these cases to the Supreme Court leads to unnecessary litigation and delays in justice.

Chief Justice Afridi also noted that while lower courts are instructed to resolve cases within four months, it is crucial that justice remains the priority and decisions are not rushed to meet deadlines.

This latest stance reflects the judiciary’s broader effort to streamline the legal process and reduce backlog in higher courts by reinforcing the importance of jurisdictional boundaries.

The decision underscores the need for litigants to respect the role of family courts in handling child maintenance, custody, and other domestic financial matters, preserving the Supreme Court’s focus for more complex constitutional and legal issues.