The Supreme Court (SC)has ruled that a divorce cannot be unilaterally converted into khula without the explicit consent of the wife, overturning prior decisions by the Family Court and Peshawar High Court (PHC), 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Sunday.
According to the report, the apex court also dissolved the marriage on the grounds of cruelty, declaring that courts cannot convert a divorce petition into khula on their own initiative.
Justice Musarrat Hilali issued a detailed five-page written verdict on the matter, ordering the husband, Nasser Khan, to pay Rs12 million in outstanding dower (mahr) to the petitioner, Nayla Javed.
The court emphasised that Naila Javed had filed for the termination of her marriage on the basis of cruelty and legal grounds, and she had not requested khula.
According to the verdict, the Family Court had erroneously ended the marriage based on khula instead of addressing the allegations of cruelty.
The court had instructed the husband to waive the unpaid mahr in exchange for khula, a decision the Supreme Court found legally flawed. Without the wife’s explicit agreement, a divorce cannot be converted into khula.
The ruling also noted that Nasser Khan had married again during the proceedings without permission, in clear violation of Section 6 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance.