Lahore High Court rules abused women retain dower rights following divorce

The Lahore High Court has ruled that a woman who seeks a divorce on the grounds of her husband’s cruelty, abuse, or marital misconduct is not automatically deprived of her right to receive her unpaid dower, known as haq mehr.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani dismissed a petition filed by a man challenging lower court decisions in Toba Tek Singh that awarded 50 percent of a deferred dower to his former wife, Nisha Shahid.

The petitioner argued that under family law provisions, the court lacked a legal basis to grant dower following a khula dissolution. However, the High Court drew a clear distinction between a standard khula, where a woman seeks separation solely due to personal incompatibility, and a judicial dissolution triggered by a husband’s mistreatment.

The court clarified that abuse encompasses physical violence as well as psychological, emotional, verbal, and economic misconduct, noting that a wife is not required to present formal medical reports or police filings to establish her claim.

The ruling directed Family Courts to assess the underlying causes of a marital breakdown rather than stripping a woman of her dower rights purely because the separation is categorized as a khula.

Additionally, the Lahore High Court recommended that the Punjab government and the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan update relevant family laws to ensure clear determinations of fault in dower disputes.