The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that a wife's right to her deferred dower (Haq Mehr) remains protected if marriage dissolution occurs due to the husband's cruelty or misconduct, even if the family court terms it as 'Khula'.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani dismissed a husband's petition challenging a family court decision that awarded 50% of the deferred dower to his wife.

The couple married in 2022 with a deferred dower of Rs100,000, but the wife filed for dissolution citing physical and verbal abuse, unemployment, theft, and forced eviction.A senior civil judge dissolved the marriage under Section 10(4) of the Family Courts Act, awarding partial dower.

The husband argued that sub-sections (5) and (6) of Section 10 were invalidated by the Federal Shariat Court in 2022, but Justice Kayani clarified that cruelty cases (Nashuz) differ from Khula (divorce by mutual consent).He emphasized that statutory grounds like abuse under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act (DMMA) 1939 protect dower rights.The judge stressed that unpaid deferred dower is a debt, not a penalty, and family courts cannot automatically forfeit it.

The ruling highlights the need for legislative clarity to prevent misuse of Khula decrees and ensure women's dower rights are upheld in dissolution cases.