The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Friday gave a ruling in favour of a woman and told her husband to give her 12 and a ½ tolas (145.75 grams) of gold and half of his house as Haq Mehr (dower).

Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that people would mention dower in their marriage certificates at the time of their marriage, but later they would not pay that amount. This adds to problems of the courts, he said. He said the court gave its verdict on the basis of Quranic verses and he believed no one would be disagreeing to the Quranic verses.

A two-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Isa was hearing an application filed by Falak Nigar against her husband Muhammad Ajmal. Justice Isa said during the hearing the court would hear a family law case to its satisfaction and then give its verdict. He said the defendant shouldn’t have got married if he could not pay dower. He said that defendant Ajmal should either announce in court that his wife Falak is not a Muslim or he should give her dower.

A family court had directed Ajmal to give Falak a house in Swat and 25 tolas (291.50 grams) of gold as dower. Later, a high court declared the family court’s judgement null and void. Defendant Ajmal had contracted marriage with Falak Nigar in Swat.