A further marriage without permission makes deferred dower payable at once

Judgment at a glance

Legal issue

Is a wife entitled to her deferred dower, and to maintenance, when divorce is not proved but the husband, while married to her, contracted another marriage without the Arbitration Council's permission?

Decision

Yes. Section 6(5) of the Ordinance is a statutory exception to the rule that deferred dower falls due on death or divorce: a husband who marries again without permission must pay the entire dower, prompt or deferred, at once (following PLD 2020 SC 613). He had been convicted on her complaint for the later marriage, so her deferred dower of Rs. 1,000,000 was decreed although the marriage subsists. Because there was no conclusive proof of divorce or a divorce-effectiveness certificate, the marriage was treated as intact; she had been turned out within a month and the husband had not shown she left without cause, so she was awarded maintenance of Rs. 15,000 a month from 27 December 2021 with a 10% annual increase (following 2026 SCMR 1). The appellate court's reduction of dowry on assumptions about second marriages and her family's social standing was set aside and the Family Court's dowry decree restored. The husband's petition was dismissed.

Key principle

Under section 6(5) MFLO, a husband who contracts another marriage without the Arbitration Council's permission must pay his existing wife's entire dower, including deferred dower, immediately, even while the marriage subsists; dowry claims must be decided on the evidence, not on assumptions about social standing.

Outcome

Partly allowed

Relevant law

Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, s.6; Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Art. 199

Why it matters

• Where the husband remarried without permission, claim the full dower under s.6(5); proof of divorce is not needed.
• Prove the later marriage: a conviction on a s.6 complaint, Nikahnamas or witnesses.
• Resist dowry reductions based on 'social standing' or assumptions about second marriages rather than evidence.

Cite as: Mehnaz Saleem v. Kashif Iqbal and 2 others (with Kashif Iqbal v. Mehnaz Saleem), 2026 LHC 1104, PLJ 2026 Lahore 262, 2026 YLR 1338, Lahore High Court, W.P. Nos. 2743 and 19363 of 2025, decided 10 February 2026

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