Divorce Laws in Pakistan

An Islamic divorce is known as a "Talaq".  A Talaq is where the husband in an Islamic marriage seeks to divorce his wife and this is a relatively straightforward process. If a man in outisde Pakistan performs a Talaq in that particular country, this brings the marriage to an end only under Islamic law.

 

Where a husband pronounces Talaq he must also make payment on the "Haq Mehr", which is a sum of money he has agreed to give to his wife in the event of divorce. The Haq Mehr may be taken into account for ancillary relief (i.e. financial) proceedings.

 

A Muslim woman may also apply for an Islamic divorce by way of "Khala".

As per Muslim Personal Law and under section 7 of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance husband pronounces talaq (oral or by way of Deed of Divorce) and sends written notice by registered post to the Union Council, mentioning address of his ex- wife. Thereafter the concerned  union Council sends a copy of the notice to wife by registered post and arbitration Council is constituted within 30 days of receipt of notice. Once the iddat period (90 days from the date the union council receives the talaq notice) is over, the union council will issue a certificate of Talaq being effective to the husband and wife.

Talaq is not effective until the expiry of iddat period and failure to abide the law cause an imprisonment up to one year and/or a fine of up to Rs. 5000/-.

A verbal talaq is not recognized by law and the husband's failure to send written notice to the Union Council makes the talaq ineffective. Even if the Union Council issues a certificate of talaq, if notice was not properly served on the wife, the talaq can be challenged.

Notice of talaq can be served on a wife (with the Union Council's permission) through her father, mother, adult brother or sister, but no other relatives. If this is not possible because her whereabouts are not known and notice cannot be served on her through her immediate family, the husband can still serve notice through a newspaper approved by the Union Council.

Sometimes families make the mistake of refusing to receive a registered notification, fearing that it is notice of talaq. This is dangerous because notice can then be served through a newspaper and the talaq will be effective, but the woman will be unaware of her status.