Islamabad (HRNW)- In a landmark verdict affirming women’s financial rights within marriage, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that a husband’s obligation to provide maintenance to his wife commences from the date of the nikah (marriage contract) and is not dependent on divorce, cohabitation, or the husband’s discretion.
The judgment was delivered by a two-member bench comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, which set aside a decision of the Lahore High Court that had exempted a husband from paying maintenance due to the absence of formal separation.
The Supreme Court emphasized that maintenance is a mandatory legal duty of the husband, not a discretionary gesture, and that conditioning it upon marital relations or physical cohabitation violates constitutional guarantees of gender equality. The ruling further clarified that the only exception occurs if a husband can prove his wife was absent without justification.
The bench also expressed concern over the language used in the lower court’s ruling, urging judges to avoid reinforcing gender stereotypes and to affirm the equal legal status of women in their decisions.
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