SC questions Punjab law requiring khula-seeking women to return 50pc dower

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s Shariat Appellate Bench on Thursday directed that a case involving Punjab’s law requiring a woman seeking khula to return 50 per cent of her haq mehr (dower) be brought to the attention of the Punjab chief minister to determine whether the provincial government wanted to continue pursuing the matter.

A five-member SC Shariat Appellate Bench, headed by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, heard an appeal filed by the Punjab government against a Federal Shariat Court ruling that had declared the relevant legislation contrary to Islamic injunctions.

During the hearing, the bench observed that the matter should be placed before the Punjab chief minister to determine whether the provincial government wanted to proceed with the case.

Justice Shahid Waheed observed that Punjab was the only province to have introduced a law requiring a woman seeking khula to return 50 per cent of her haq mehr.

He questioned whether the Punjab government wanted to pursue legislation that, in his view, affected women’s rights and whether the chief minister had been consulted on continuing the case.

Justice Jamal Mandokhail said that the Punjab government should withdraw the case and explain, in the light of the Quran and Sunnah, how the legislation could be justified.

He questioned how the government could determine through legislation what a woman should give up in a khula and how much she should return.

‘How can government take away right given by Quran?’

Justice Mandokhail observed that what a woman should give in a khula and how much she should give was a matter for her to decide, questioning how the government could take away a choice granted to her under Islamic principles.

Justice Shahid Waheed said the court would not compromise on the status and rights accorded to women (in Islam).

He observed that haq mehr given to a woman becomes her property and questioned whether its return could be made subject to a particular condition.

Another member of the bench, Justice Malik Shahzad, referred to the incident involving the wife of Thabit bin Qais, who sought khula and returned a garden that had been given to her as a marriage gift.

He questioned how an act could be considered un-Islamic if it had not been prohibited, while adding that, in his view, prescribing a limit was not necessarily wrong.

Legal background

The Punjab government had amended the relevant family law in 2015 to prescribe a limit for the return of haq mehr in cases where a woman seeks khula.

The legislation laid down a legal mechanism for determining the portion of haq mehr that a woman would be required to return upon obtaining khula.

The Federal Shariat Court subsequently declared the legislation introduced by the Punjab government contrary to Islamic injunctions.

The Punjab government challenged the Federal Shariat Court’s ruling before the Supreme Court, where the matter is being heard by the Shariat Appellate Bench.

The Supreme Court adjourned further proceedings until October 8.