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Pakistani Family Law Judgments
Supreme Court, Federal Shariat Court and High Court judgments on Khulla, divorce, custody, maintenance and more, summarised in plain English by our lawyers and reviewed by an advocate.
Showing 61–67 of 67 judgments
A former aunt by marriage cannot keep a child from the real mother
Mst. Nayyab Abbas v. Additional District Judge, etc.
Issue: Can a woman who raised a child under an 'adoption deed' made in favour of her then husband, the child's uncle, keep…
Held: No. The father had handed the child to the uncle under an 'adoption deed' of 7 November 2020 without the mother's consent, and the deed was in the uncle's favour alone; the uncle, now divorced from the petitioner, conceded the…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.17, Guardians and Wards Act 1890s.25, Guardians and Wards Act 1890
Gold dower left out of the decree sheet by mistake can still be enforced
Afzal Hussain v. Mst. Irshad Bibi etc.
Issue: Could the appellate court, on the husband's own appeal, direct that one tola of gold dower be added to the decree, where…
Held: Yes. The trial court had held the wife entitled to one tola of gold and a 10-marla house as dower but left the gold out of the relief paragraph and the decree sheet. That was a procedural error, and since…
A mother’s remarriage does not by itself cost her custody
Nazia Saddique v. Additional District Judge, etc.
Issue: Should a ten-year-old who had always lived with his mother be moved to his father because she remarried and depends financially on…
Held: No. A mother's remarriage may lead to loss of custody, but it is not an absolute rule; the welfare of the child is paramount, and moving a boy who had lived with his mother all his life would likely cause…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.17, Guardians and Wards Act 1890s.25, Guardians and Wards Act 1890
The paternal grandfather can be joined in a maintenance suit, but his liability comes second
Nizam ud Din v. Additional District Judge etc.
Issue: Can the minors' paternal grandfather be added as a defendant at the appeal stage of their maintenance suit, while the father is…
Held: Yes. The father must maintain his children first; if he cannot, the duty may pass to the mother and, if she too is poor, to the paternal grandfather in easy circumstances (paragraph 370 of Mulla's Muhammadan Law). Following Bashir Ahmad…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973O.I r.10, Code of Civil Procedure 1908
Parents who lent a child to relatives can take her back
Nazir Ahmad etc. v. The learned Additional District Judge, Kasur etc.
Issue: Can a maternal uncle and aunt who were given temporary custody of one of twin girls, on condition that they return her…
Held: No. The parents' status as the girl's real parents was admitted, and admitted facts need no proof. However good the care the uncle and aunt provided, adoptive carers are not a substitute for the parents, and the welfare of the…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.17, Guardians and Wards Act 1890s.25, Guardians and Wards Act 1890
A child ‘adopted’ at birth goes back to the real mother; the court asks for an adoption law
Erum Shahzadi & another v. Additional District Judge, Sialkot & 4 others
Issue: Can relatives who took a newborn on the day of his birth and registered him as their own son keep him against…
Held: No. Adoption is permitted in Islamic law, but the real parents have a preferential right to custody unless the child's welfare demands otherwise, and there was no justification for this adoption beyond the relatives' wish for a son. No written…
Habeas corpus will not decide custody when the Guardian Court is already seized
Hamna Fahad v. CCPO, Lahore etc.
Issue: Should the High Court return two children to their mother in habeas proceedings after the father allegedly took them from her at…
Held: No. In the precedents the mother relied on, the child was a suckling baby or had been removed by deception from the mother's custody; here both parents had lived with the children in Dubai, and whether the mother left or…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.25, Guardians and Wards Act 1890s.7, Guardians and Wards Act 1890