Khula can be granted while a suit challenging the Nikahnama is pending

Judgment at a glance

Legal issue

Must a Khula suit wait because the husband says the marriage was void, as the wife had earlier marriages that were never dissolved, and has filed a declaratory suit challenging the Nikahnama?

Decision

No. The marriage was admitted and the husband produced no documents or evidence that any earlier marriage was subsisting; a bare assertion cannot displace the presumption of validity of an admitted marriage. A pending declaratory suit against the Nikahnama does not bar the Family Court from dissolving a marriage that subsists until a competent court sets it aside. The wife's sworn statement of extreme aversion, with the husband also refusing reconciliation, justified Khula (following Khurshid Bibi, PLD 1967 SC 97). The Family Court's decree dissolving the marriage by Khula, subject to surrender of the whole prompt and deferred dower, was upheld and the petition dismissed in limine.

Key principle

So long as the marriage is admitted and not declared void by a competent court, a pending challenge to the Nikahnama does not suspend the wife's right to Khula; her sworn statement of aversion, with failed reconciliation, is sufficient.

Outcome

Dismissed

Relevant law

Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Art. 199

Why it matters

• A collateral suit against the Nikahnama does not stall a Khula case.
• A husband who alleges an earlier subsisting marriage must prove it with documents or evidence.
• In this case the Khula decree required the wife to surrender her whole prompt and deferred dower.

Cite as: Muhammad Irfan v. Judge Family Court, etc., 2025 LHC 6834, Lahore High Court, W.P. No. 14118 of 2025, decided 21 November 2025

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