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Maintenance judgments: Pakistani family law case summaries
Pakistani court judgments on maintenance, summarised in plain English, newest first. Each gives the issue, what the court held and what it means in practice, and is reviewed by an advocate.
Our guide: Wife and child maintenance claims
27 judgments
Grandfather’s maintenance: present capacity is separate from past liability
Allah Rakha alias Irshad v. Province of Sindh and another
Issue: Where a child's father has died, can the paternal grandfather be ordered to pay the child's monthly and past maintenance, and what…
Held: The grandfather remained liable for monthly maintenance of Rs. 7,000: he admitted income from a bakery and brought no evidence of incapacity. But the courts below had missed the mother's earlier bond undertaking to bear the child's expenses, which was…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.14, Family Courts Act 1964s.491, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
A section 12(2) application cannot simply reopen a contested family decree
Muhammad Afzal v. Maria Tariq and others
Issue: Can a party who fully contested a family suit reopen the decree under section 12(2) CPC, and is a claim that former…
Held: No on both points. The petitioner had contested the suit in full and his section 12(2) CPC application identified no fraud, misrepresentation or concealment of the kind the provision requires; a bare assertion that former counsel did not disclose the…
r.22, Family Courts Rules 1965s.12(2), Code of Civil Procedure 1908s.14, Family Courts Act 1964s.5, Limitation Act 1908
Article 199 cannot be used as a second maintenance appeal
Jawad Ahmed v. Mst. Salma and others
Issue: Can a husband use the High Court's constitutional jurisdiction to reopen past and iddat maintenance already decided by the Family Court and…
Held: No. Article 199 is supervisory, not a second appeal; it is confined to patent illegality, jurisdictional defect, perversity or material misreading or non-reading of evidence causing a miscarriage of justice. As the husband only sought a fresh assessment of the…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.14, Family Courts Act 1964
A child’s preference must be heard, but within the whole welfare inquiry
Kashif Mehmood v. Saadia Fida etc.
Issue: How much weight should a court give a child's own preference in a custody case?
Held: A child capable of forming an intelligent preference must be meaningfully heard, but that preference is weighed with the child's existing care, education, stability and overall welfare rather than treated as a binding or isolated choice. Maternal custody and the…
s.17, Guardians and Wards Act 1890s.25, Guardians and Wards Act 1890
An attorney’s residence cannot give a Family Court territorial jurisdiction
Muhammad Mushtaq and another v. Sidra Riaz, etc.
Issue: Can a woman living in Italy sue her former husband for maintenance and dowry in the Family Court where her attorney lives,…
Held: No. A wife may sue through an attorney, but Rule 6 gives jurisdiction only where the cause of action arose, where the parties reside or last resided together, or, in suits for dissolution or dower, where the wife ordinarily resides;…
r.6, Family Courts Rules 1965s.25-A, Family Courts Act 1964s.5, Family Courts Act 1964s.7(2), Family Courts Act 1964
Parents cannot bargain away a child’s independent right to maintenance
Mst. Shazia Naureen, etc. v. District Judge, etc.
Issue: Can a mother, as guardian, agree to reduced maintenance for her children, and can a Family Court fix the children's maintenance solely…
Held: No to both. A child's right to maintenance belongs to the child, not the parent; a guardian cannot waive, reduce or surrender it, and any agreement doing so is void against the minor. A compromise on a minor's behalf needs…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973O.XXXII, Code of Civil Procedure 1908s.17, Family Courts Act 1964
Prove limited means with records before challenging interim maintenance
Sakib Ali Mahesar v. Faria Khan Laghari and others
Issue: Can a father use Article 199 to overturn interim child maintenance of Rs. 150,000 a month by saying his income is only…
Held: No. Interim maintenance orders are not open to appeal or revision, so Article 199 is available only for lack of jurisdiction, mala fides or patent illegality, none of which was shown. The mother produced documents showing a petrol pump, agricultural…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.14(3), Family Courts Act 1964s.17-A, Family Courts Act 1964
A maintenance compromise can cover higher school expenses without a fresh suit
Mohammad Faizan Ghani v. Mst. Anushay Akbar and others
Issue: Where a compromise decree requires the father to pay Rs. 50,000 a month and also 'all expenses' of the children's education, can…
Held: She can recover them in execution. The decree had two terms: the fixed monthly amount and all the children's educational and necessary expenses. Claiming documented, increased expenses under that second term was within the decree, and the Family Court may…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.5, Family Courts Act 1964s.7, Family Courts Act 1964
Military pension can be attached to enforce a final child-maintenance decree
Muhammad Latif v. Addl. District Judge, Jaranwala etc.
Issue: Can the pension of a retired Army official be attached to enforce a final Family Court decree for his children's maintenance, despite…
Held: Yes. Section 11 of the Pensions Act protects pensions from attachment 'at the instance of a creditor', but minor children enforcing their father's duty to maintain them are not creditors and the liability is not an ordinary debt. Section 171…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.11, Pensions Act 1871s.13, Family Courts Act 1964s.17, Family Courts Act 1964
A wife’s ‘ordinary residence’ decides Family Court jurisdiction; permanent residence is not needed
Mst. Shagufta Bibi v. Additional District Judge, Jahanian and others
Issue: Could an appellate court throw out a wife's whole family suit (khula, maintenance and dowry) for lack of territorial jurisdiction because she…
Held: No. Under the proviso to Rule 6, the Family Court where the wife 'ordinarily resides' has jurisdiction in a suit for dissolution, and 'ordinarily resides' does not mean permanent or long residence: the court must decide from all the evidence…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973r.5, Family Courts Rules 1965r.6, Family Courts Rules 1965s.5, Family Courts Act 1964
Family cases must move fast: the court orders reports on suits pending over six months
Muhammad Iqbal Afzal v. Judge Family Court, etc.
Issue: Was the Family Court right to close a defendant husband's evidence after repeated warnings, in a khula, dowry and maintenance suit pending…
Held: Yes. The order sheets showed clear warnings and a last chance, and repeated dilatory tactics; fair hearing means a reasonable opportunity, not endless adjournments. The petition was dismissed and the Family Court directed to finish the case day to day…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.12-A, Family Courts Act 1964s.17, Family Courts Act 1964
A judgment debtor’s CNIC cannot be blocked to enforce a maintenance decree
Nasir Ali Ranjha v. Addl. District Judge, etc.
Issue: Can an executing court order NADRA to block a judgment debtor's CNIC under section 51(e) CPC to force payment of a family…
Held: No. A CNIC proves a person's identity and cannot be taken away without due process, and section 51(e) CPC cannot be read to permit blocking it in execution, following the Supreme Court's order of 18 February 2026 in Agha Abid…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.18, National Database and Registration Authority Ordinance 2000s.51, Code of Civil Procedure 1908
Past maintenance for 12 years upheld where the husband admitted she was unmaintained
Muhammad Anwar v. District Judge, etc.
Issue: Can a Family Court award past maintenance going back more than six years, which the husband said is the outer limit under…
Held: Yes, on these facts. In his written statement, seeking restitution of conjugal rights in answer to the wife's suit, the husband admitted in writing that she had been unmaintained since 2012. A husband who asks for his wife's return admits…
Art. 120, Limitation Act 1908Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973
A late challenge cannot stall execution of a family decree that is over ten years old
Pathani Mai v. District Judge, Lodhran, etc.
Issue: Can a person to whom a husband transferred land in 2009, after his wife sued him for dower and maintenance, challenge more…
Held: No. The petition was barred by laches: it came more than a year and five months after the 2024 mutation with no explanation. On the merits, the wife's suit for dower and maintenance was filed on 13 July 2009, before…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.12-A, Family Courts Act 1964s.14, Family Courts Act 1964
Maintenance of Rs 5,000 a month or less cannot be appealed, or challenged by writ instead
Nazir Ahmad v. Judge Family Court, Khairpur Tamewali etc.
Issue: Can a grandfather ordered to pay Rs 3,500 a month for each of two grandchildren, while their father lives abroad and does…
Held: No. The father had moved to Saudi Arabia and was not maintaining the children, and the grandfather's own evidence showed he was financially sound (he owns grain-grinding machines) and closely associated with his son; where the father absents himself, an…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.14, Family Courts Act 1964
Parents agree a detailed meetings schedule; the court asks Sindh to reform interim custody rules
Mst. Aqsa Abdul Ghaffar v. Irfan Muhammad Saleem and others
Issue: In a wife's petition against decrees for dower, maintenance and dowry, how should the High Court respond when it emerges that the…
Held: The financial claims were settled at the hearing: the claim to gold stayed rejected for lack of evidence, and the husband undertook to pay the balance of the appellate decree (Rs. 162,000 of Rs. 295,500) within a month and future…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973Art. 25, Constitution of Pakistan 1973Art. 35, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.12, Guardians and Wards Act 1890
A further marriage without permission makes deferred dower payable at once
Mehnaz Saleem v. Kashif Iqbal and 2 others (with Kashif Iqbal v. Mehnaz Saleem)
Issue: Is a wife entitled to her deferred dower, and to maintenance, when divorce is not proved but the husband, while married to…
Held: 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…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.6, Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961
In children’s maintenance the court must find the facts itself, including who should pay
Muhammad Saeed v. Judge Family Court, etc.
Issue: Could a paternal uncle be held liable to maintain his late brother's child, where the suit was brought against the grandfather, who…
Held: The decree was set aside and the appeal sent back. Nothing in sections 5 and 17-A or the Schedule of the Family Courts Act confines liability for a child's maintenance to the father; who the defendant should be depends on…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.17-A, Family Courts Act 1964s.5, Family Courts Act 1964
No second appeal in family cases, but the High Court can still fix a workable visitation schedule
Shafqat Ali v. Mst. Rimsha (and connected petitions)
Issue: After a Family Court decree and one appeal on Khula, dower, maintenance and dowry, and one guardianship appeal, can the High Court…
Held: Not as a second appeal. The Family Courts Act gives no second appeal and the Guardians and Wards Act allows one, which both sides had used; re-appraising evidence in writ jurisdiction would substitute a second appeal (following 2023 SCMR 1434…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.10, Family Courts Act 1964s.47, Guardians and Wards Act 1890
Foreign maintenance orders: avoiding a duplicate child-maintenance claim in Pakistan
Muhammad Muneeb Arshad v. Mst. Ammara Mahroof and others
Issue: Where an Irish court has already fixed a child's maintenance and the father is paying it, can a Pakistani Family Court run…
Held: No, on these facts. Living abroad does not by itself oust a Pakistani Family Court's jurisdiction under Rule 6, but where a competent foreign court has fixed the child's maintenance and it is being paid, the same claim cannot run…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973r.6, Family Courts Rules 1965s.10, Code of Civil Procedure 1908s.11, Code of Civil Procedure 1908
A dowry claim joined to a maintenance and dower suit stays in the court where the wife lives
Muhammad Ahmad Tariq v. Judge Family Court, D.G. Khan, etc.
Issue: Where a wife sues in the place she ordinarily resides for maintenance, dower and dowry articles, without asking for dissolution, can the…
Held: No. Rule 6 allows a suit for dissolution or dower to be filed where the wife ordinarily resides, and the proviso to section 7(2) of the Family Courts Act, which lets a dissolution plaint include dowry, maintenance, dower and other…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973r.6, Family Courts Rules 1965s.7, Family Courts Act 1964
A wife’s withdrawal of dower and maintenance claims can be recalled if she lacked independent advice
Asif Iqbal v. Additional District Judge etc.
Issue: Can a wife who withdrew her suit for dower, dowry and maintenance in court, without her own lawyer or independent advice, have…
Held: Yes. Statements recorded in court are ordinarily treated as conclusive, but the rule is not absolute: the court must examine whether the act was truly voluntary and free from undue influence or fraud. Here she came to court with only…
Supreme Court: cruelty need not be physical, and a cruelty case cannot be turned into khula
Dr. Seema Hanif Khan v. Waqas Khan and others
Issue: Can a Family Court grant khula of its own accord to a wife who sued for dissolution on statutory grounds, and what…
Held: No court may grant khula without the wife's clear consent; filing a suit for dissolution is not a request for khula. Grounds under the 1939 Act are proved on the balance of probabilities, and cruelty, which may be mental and…
Art. 14, Constitution of Pakistan 1973Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973Art. 25, Constitution of Pakistan 1973Art. 35, Constitution of Pakistan 1973
A husband who ignored a Khula and maintenance suit cannot use section 12(2) or a writ to undo the ex parte decree
Muhammad Sohail v. Mst. Ambreen Jamal and others
Issue: Can a husband who was served by bailiff, courier, pasting and publication, was debarred from filing a written statement and did not…
Held: No. The service reports disproved his claim of non-service; under section 12(2) he had to plead and prove fraud, misrepresentation or lack of jurisdiction, and he produced no credible material. Both courts below concurrently rejected his application, revision under section…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.115, Code of Civil Procedure 1908s.12(2), Code of Civil Procedure 1908
Full dower once Nikah and consummation are proved; a house’s value is assessed at today’s market price
Benish Ghaffar v. Additional District Judge and 2 others (with connected petitions)
Issue: Where a husband denied the marriage altogether but the registered Nikah was proved, could the courts below award only half the dower…
Held: No. Once the Nikah was proved through the Nikah Khawan and the Union Council Secretary and the husband's denial failed, consummation was a private matter that needed no further proof, no issue had been framed on it, and the later…
Art. 128, Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973
A wife who says she was orally divorced cannot later claim the marriage continues for lack of a certificate
Nusrat Sadiq v. Nadeem Asghar etc.
Issue: Where the wife herself pleaded that her husband pronounced talaq three times by telephone, and he admitted it, does her maintenance run…
Held: No. Her own plaint asserted the divorce and claimed deferred dower on that basis, and the husband admitted it in his written statement filed through his attorney; admitted facts need not be proved, and a husband may plead and depose…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.7, Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961
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