The Lahore High Court has ruled that a husband who contracts another marriage without the permission of his first wife is immediately liable to pay her full dower (haq mehr), along with maintenance and dowry-related payments, in a landmark decision aimed at protecting women’s financial rights and curbing arbitrary marriages.
Justice Abid Hussain Chatha issued an eight-page verdict on a petition filed by Mehnaaz Saleem, modifying lower court rulings. The court ordered the husband to pay Rs1 million as dower, Rs15,000 monthly maintenance until the effective date of divorce, with a 10% annual increase from 2021, and the value of dowry items as assessed by the court.
The trial court partially accepted the husband’s appeal, setting aside his obligation to pay haq mehr and maintenance and reducing the dowry value from Rs1,005,000 to Rs400,000. The petitioner challenged this decision in the high court.
The court noted that the husband had contracted a third and then a fourth marriage without his first wife’s consent and had expelled her from the home with only three sets of clothes. It found that his claim of a verbal divorce was legally insufficient, as mandatory requirements for a valid divorce had not been fulfilled. “Without completion of legal formalities, marriage remains valid, and the husband remains responsible for maintenance until divorce is effective,” the court observed.
The judgment also highlighted that the husband had concealed prior marriages at the time of nikah, including a second marriage that had ended with the first wife’s death. The petitioner, as the third wife, discovered the concealment later, which became the cause of the dispute. The court found no evidence that the petitioner had left the house due to misconduct or disobedience and held that the husband failed to justify her expulsion.
The court emphasised that it was the husband’s moral and legal obligation to disclose prior marriages at the time of nikah. It ruled that where a husband marries without the first wife’s permission, he becomes immediately liable to pay her full haq mehr. It further reinforced that wives are entitled to monthly maintenance and dowry-related payments until the marriage is legally dissolved.
The ruling, the court noted, is intended to protect wives’ financial rights and discourage unilateral, arbitrary marriages, sending a strong message about adherence to Muslim family law in Pakistan.