LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has upheld a family court’s decree granting khula, affirming that when a wife expresses extreme aversion toward her husband and the husband refuses reconciliation, no court can lawfully compel the continuation of the marriage.
The petitioner had challenged the family court’s September 24, 2025, order that dissolved the marriage at the wife’s request. The husband claimed the marriage was void from the outset, alleging the wife had concealed previous marriages and arguing that the khula decree could not stand until the earlier marriage was resolved.
Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad, however, found no merit in the husband’s allegations, noting the absence of documentary evidence such as prior nikahnama or official records. He dismissed the husband’s constitutional petition, ruling that the family court’s decision was lawful and free of jurisdictional defects.
“Once both parties have categorically refused reconciliation, the very basis of matrimonial life—mutual willingness, companionship, and harmony—has collapsed,” Justice Arshad observed. He added that courts are not expected to perpetuate marriages that both spouses reject, as doing so would cause emotional and psychological hardship.
The court emphasized that Islamic law, statutory law, and principles of equity do not permit forcing a wife to remain in a marriage she does not wish to continue, particularly when the husband also expresses unwillingness. “To insist on the continuation of such a marriage would contradict Islamic jurisprudence, which emphasizes ease, justice, and prevention of harm,” the judgment noted.
Justice Arshad further clarified that unsupported allegations are insufficient to negate the presumption of validity attached to an admitted marriage. Until a competent court declares a nikah void, it remains legally operative. Moreover, the husband’s separate suit challenging the nikahnama does not bar the family court from deciding the wife’s khula petition.
The LHC reaffirmed the precedent set in the Khurshid Bibi case, which held that a wife’s categorical statement of inability or unwillingness to live with her husband constitutes sufficient ground for khula. In this case, both spouses had clearly stated their unwillingness to continue the marriage.
Finding no procedural irregularity or misapplication of law, the Lahore High Court dismissed the constitutional petition as meritless, upholding the family court’s khula decree.
