Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the Supreme Court has held in a recent judgment that there are certain important considerations that must be taken into account when transacting with a person hard of hearing and none-verbal. The Court held that there could be possibly two kinds of deaf persons: One, who is not able to hear but he is intellectually sound and can understand the things; he can communicate well and understand what are his rights and duties. Two, who is hard of hearing as well as hard of understanding the things; he is intellectually disabled as well who cannot understand others properly. The criteria to transect with both is different from each other. In the former, such witnesses, not having conflict of interest with the deaf person, who can communicate with and understand the deaf person are required to sit in as witnesses. In the latter, such transaction can be undertaken through next friend or relatives as envisaged in Order 32 of CPC.
judgment-on-trasection-of-a-deaf-person
