Women can appeal for marriage dissolution on account of cruelty: SC
Pakistan
Women can appeal to dissolve marriage on grounds of cruelty: SC
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Thursday ruled that women could appeal to seek dissolution of marriage upon instances of cruelty by husband or his family.
In a written judgement, the court, while re-evaluating and reappraising the judgements made by the family court and the Peshawar High Court (PHC) in an appeal for dissolution of marriage filed by Tayyaba Ambreen against her husband Shafaqat Ali Kayani, quashed PHC’s judgement and reinstated family court’s ruling. The PHC had dissolved the conjugal relationship between the two on grounds of Khula instead of cruelty.
As per the tagline of the judgement available on court’s website, ”The dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty, the Court must adjudge the intensity and ruthlessness of the acts and examine whether the conduct complained of is not merely a trivial issue which may happen in day-to-day married life, but is of such a nature which no reasonable person can endure. While claiming conjugal rights by a husband in response to the suit for dissolution of marriage, dower, dowry and maintenance, it is also an onerous responsibility of the Court to see whether he is sincerely fulfilling his obligations towards his wife.”
As for the definition of cruelty, the court ruled, “The cruelty alleged may be mental or physical, premeditated or unpremeditated, but lack of intent does not make any distinction. Obviously, if it is a physical act then it would be a question of fact, and in the event of mental cruelty, an enquiry is required to be made as to the nature of the cruel treatment to find out the impact or repercussions thereof on the mind of the spouse. Mental cruelty can be largely delineated as a course of conduct which perpetrates mental pain with such a severity and harshness which would render it impossible for that party to continue the matrimonial tie or to live together.”
