SC rules against khula sans wife’s explicit consent

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ruled that family courts should not convert a wife’s suit for dissolution of marriage on grounds of cruelty into a decree of khula without her explicit and informed consent, particularly when valuable financial rights such as unpaid dower are involved. Authored by Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan on behalf of a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, the observations came while hearing an appeal filed by Selab Akhtar against a decision of the Peshawar High Court that upheld concurrent findings of lower courts dissolving her marriage through khula and denying her full dower and past maintenance. “We hold,” the judgement said, “that khula should not ordinarily be granted without the wife’s consent or clear election where she had sued on grounds of cruelty and valuable financial rights were implicated.” However, where cruelty is not proved and marital life has manifestly collapsed, courts must give the wife an opportunity to choose whether to pursue dismissal of her claim or accept dissolution through khula upon lawful terms, rather than compelling restoration of a relationship that has effectively ceased to exist, Justice Hassan observed. Cautions against setting unrealistic standards for proof of cruelty, especially when unpaid dower is involved “The proper judicial course is neither to impose khula without consent nor to mechanically dismiss the matter while ignoring matrimonial breakdown,” the judgement emphasised. The dispute arose from a matrimonial case between Selab Akhtar and Quwat Khan. The couple married on Sept 19, 2016, in Swat’s Matta tehsil, where 30 tolas of gold were fixed as haq mehr. According to the petitioner, after marriage she was subjected by her husband and his family members to harsh treatment, coercion, humiliation, cruelty and mental torture, making continuation of matrimonial life impossible. She alleged she was expelled from the house without justification and denied maintenance. Cons