Summary Lahore High Court ruled that a wife cannot be deprived of rights agreed in the marriage contract, setting aside a trial court decision in a Haq Mehr dispute
LAHORE (Web Desk) - The Lahore High Court has ruled that a wife cannot be deprived of her agreed rights after signing the marriage contract, emphasizing that the terms of a Nikahnama must be respected and interpreted in accordance with the intentions of the parties involved.
Justice Sultan Tanveer of the Multan Bench heard a petition filed by a woman in connection with a dispute over land promised as Haq Mehr.
The court accepted the petition and set aside a trial court ruling that had allowed the husband to pay Rs1.6 million instead of transferring the agreed land. The case has been remanded for fresh proceedings.
According to the court order, the parties were married in 2015 and two acres of land were specified as Haq Mehr in the marriage contract. The husband later paid Rs1.6 million based on the land's value in 2015, and the trial court upheld the payment in place of the land.
Husband bound to pay full haq mehr mentioned in nikahnama, says SC CJ
The high court observed that if compensation is to be paid instead of the land, it should be calculated according to the current market value. The court noted that a Nikahnama is a civil contract and its terms must be understood in line with the intentions of the contracting parties.
The judgment stated that courts must determine the true intent of the parties when interpreting any clause of a marriage contract. It further observed that courts should also consider whether the woman was fully aware of her rights at the time of marriage.
The court held that a husband cannot take advantage of any ambiguity to deprive his wife of her lawful rights and concluded that the trial court had failed to properly interpret the Haq Mehr clause contained in the marriage contract.
