Marriage judgments: Pakistani family law case summaries
Pakistani court judgments on marriage, 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: Court marriage in Pakistan: requirements and procedure
10 judgments
Under the Punjab child-marriage law, cohabitation must be shown before the heavier charge applies
Mayoon v. The State, etc.
Issue: Is a man who married a girl under 18 in April 2026 entitled to post-arrest bail, where the case was registered under…
Held: Yes. The Ordinance is a special law that deals separately with cohabitation in a child marriage: section 5 makes it child abuse (five to seven years) and deliberately uses 'cohabitation' rather than 'rape', and the marriage itself is not declared…
s.3, Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026s.376, Pakistan Penal Code 1860s.4, Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Ordinance 2026s.497, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
A Family Court can find oral talaq was pronounced without a Union Council certificate; Column 17 gold is the bride’s
Mst. Hoor Hifza v. Additional District Judge etc.
Issue: Can a Family Court find that oral talaq was pronounced although no notice went to the Union Council; can dower payable on…
Held: Yes, no, and yes. Whether talaq was pronounced is a question of fact, distinct from whether it has become legally effective under section 7; the wife's evidence, corroborated by her sister, was not shaken, and a missing effectiveness certificate cannot…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.5, Family Courts Act 1964s.7, Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961
Supreme Court: Nikahnama columns 13–16 must be read together when deciding dower
Mst. Farwa Noreen v. Hassan Ali Agha and others
Issue: How should courts read the dower entries in a Nikahnama (columns 13 to 16), what is the Nikahnama's legal status, and what…
Held: Deciding questions of law only, the Court held that columns 13 to 16 are complementary and together record the total dower agreed; that the Nikahnama is the official record and primary, but rebuttable, evidence of a marriage already concluded, not…
Art. 102, Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984Art. 103, Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984Art. 105, Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984Art. 129, Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984
A child’s ‘consent’ cannot legitimise a child marriage: police must act and the girl is protected
Muhammad Aslam v. Addl. Sessions Judge/Ex-Officio Justice of Peace etc.
Issue: Was a Justice of Peace right to refuse a father's application for a criminal case over his daughter's alleged marriage below 18,…
Held: No. A NADRA child registration certificate gave her date of birth as 1 March 2011, so she was prima facie about fifteen at the Nikah on 18 May 2026, after the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026 came into force.…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.13, Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act 2026s.154, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898s.22-A, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
A working wife may share in property acquired during the marriage; dowry claim sent back
Mst. Amara Waqas v. Muhammad Waqas Rasheed and others
Issue: Was the appellate court right to refuse a working wife any share in household articles she said she bought after the marriage,…
Held: The appellate court went wrong. The wife, a former Pakistan Air Force officer, said her parents gave cash rather than traditional dowry, and the husband himself admitted that no dowry articles were given at the marriage and that he had…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.2, Dowry and Bridal Gifts (Restriction) Act 1976s.5, Dowry and Bridal Gifts (Restriction) Act 1976
Missing section 342 statement: remand, not automatic acquittal
Noor Ahmad v. The State, etc.
Issue: If the trial court never recorded the accused's statement under section 342 Cr.P.C., must the appellate court acquit him, or can it…
Held: The appellate court can send the case back. Failing to examine the accused under section 342 Cr.P.C. vitiates the conviction as recorded, but acquittal is not automatic: section 423 Cr.P.C. lets the appellate court order a retrial from the stage…
Art. 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.20, Family Courts Act 1964s.262, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898s.263, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898
Khula can be granted while a suit challenging the Nikahnama is pending
Muhammad Irfan v. Judge Family Court, etc.
Issue: Must a Khula suit wait because the husband says the marriage was void, as the wife had earlier marriages that were never…
Held: 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…
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 house recorded as dower in the Nikahnama is owed, despite a ‘sale’ between the couple before the Nikah
Mst. Saima Rani v. Addl. District Judge, etc.
Issue: Can the dower entry in a registered Nikahnama (a five-marla house in Column 16) be set aside on the assumption that a…
Held: No. The registered Nikahnama carries a presumption of truth; it recorded the house as dower with no note that it had already been paid. The husband never pleaded that the earlier sale discharged the dower; his written statement said no…
A polygamy complaint is tried by the Family Court, and appeals go to the District Judge
Muhammad Asif v. The State and another
Issue: Can a Court of Sessions decide an appeal against a Family Court's judgment convicting a husband on a complaint of polygamy under…
Held: No. Under Article 175(2) a court has only the jurisdiction given by the Constitution or law, and a decision by a court without jurisdiction is void. The Ordinance names no trial forum, but sections 5 and 20 of the Family…
Art. 175, Constitution of Pakistan 1973Art. 270AA, Constitution of Pakistan 1973s.14, Family Courts Act 1964s.20, Family Courts Act 1964