Marriage judgments: Pakistani family law case summaries (2025)
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
4 judgments
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