Supreme Court allows divorce on marital discord, bypassing cruelty proof

The five-member bench ruled that dissolution can occur under the Act's residuary provision, setting aside previous requirements.

پاکستان۰۸ اکتوبر ۲۰۲۶تحریر Web Desk

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a marriage can dissolve due to shiqaq, or marital discord, using the residuary provision of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, even without proving cruelty. A five-member appellate bench, comprising Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan, Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, announced this judgment.

The court determined that the petitions filed by Zainab Bibi and Imran Naz Begum concerned separate orders issued by the Peshawar High Court. The family courts had previously concluded that cruelty had not been established in the matters.

Instead, the Supreme Court established that the marriages were subject to dissolution based on shiqaq under section 2(ix) of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, rather than on the basis of khula. Furthermore, the bench set aside the previous directives that required the petitioners to return, surrender, or waive their dower as a result of khula.

ٹیگjudiciary

متعلقہ خبراں

پاکستان-۲۵ min

K-IV water augmentation project completion date moved to December 2026

The delay follows complications from existing utility infrastructure and the damage of a 33-inch pipeline last week.

پاکستان-۳۱ min

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani resigns from Lahore High Court bench

The judge cited health concerns and concerns over executive interference in judicial independence as reasons for stepping down from the bench.

پاکستان-۴۲ min

Pakistan plans $10 million fund to support clean-air startups

The initiative addresses an economic burden from air pollution equivalent to 6.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

پاکستان-۱ h

Pakistan workforce output per worker rises by only half in three decades

In contrast, output per worker in China grew more than fivefold and quadrupled in Vietnam during similar periods.

پاکستان-۱ h

UAF and Punjab Agriculture Department to mobilise 30,000 students for wheat campaign

The 10-day initiative aims to boost national food security by bringing scientific research directly to farmers across six Punjab divisions.

پاکستان-۱ h

Pakistan requires $18 billion for water infrastructure over next decade

The government plans to boost water use efficiency to 70 percent as the Indus Basin Aquifer becomes one of the world's most overstressed systems.