AMBREEN AKRAM vs ASAD ULLAH KHAN — 2026 SCMR 1 SUPREME-COURT

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AMBREEN AKRAM VS ASAD ULLAH KHAN. Ss. 5, Sched. & 17-A---Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (VIII of 1961), Ss. 5 & 9---Constitution of Pakistan, Arts. 14, 25, 35 & 185(3)---Wife's entitlement to maintenance in a non-consummated marriage---Scope---Maintenance allowance to wife, denial of---Marriage not being consummated as ground---Legality---Husband's obligation to maintain wife. The petitioner's wife and respondent husband contracted marriage on 02.11.2012 through a valid Nikahnama. Rukhsati was mutually scheduled for February 2013; however, the respondent husband delayed rukhsati for more than one year. The petitioner wife filed a suit for maintenance before the Family Court, whereby maintenance allowance of Rs.3,000 per month was decreed in her favour from the date of marriage. On appeal, the District Court enhanced the amount of maintenance to Rs.5,000 per month. During the pendency of proceedings, the respondent husband divorced the petitioner wife on 02.05.2014. The High Court, however, set aside the judgments and decrees of the Courts below holding that since the marriage had not been consummated, the petitioner wife was not entitled to maintenance. The petitioner wife approached the Supreme Court challenging the judgment of the High Court. The pivotal questions before the Supreme Court were as to when a Muslim woman becomes entitled to maintenance within a marriage and under what circumstances, if any, a husband may be excused from his marital obligation to pay maintenance. Held: Islamic principles, constitutional guarantees and statutory protections affirm that the wife's right to maintenance flows unconditionally from solemnization of a valid marriage and constitutes a binding legal duty upon the husband. The Supreme Court held that a husband can only be excused from payment of maintenance where he proves through clear, cogent and compelling evidence that the wife has wholly and unjustifiably withdrawn from the marital relationship including emotional, residential and relational aspects. The burden of proving such exception lies upon the husband. The exception cannot be extended in a manner which perpetuates structural gender inequalities or makes maintenance a tool of coercion against women. In the present case, there was no dispute that the parties entered into a valid marriage. There was no allegation or evidence that the petitioner wife refused consummation or cohabitation without lawful justification. On the contrary, the record established that the respondent husband failed to provide marital abode, did not make arrangements for rukhsati and failed to discharge his obligations under the marital contract. There was no factual or legal basis to hold that the petitioner wife had voluntarily withdrawn from the marital relationship or refused cohabitation without reasonable cause. The wife's inability to cohabit due to the husband's own failure to facilitate rukhsati could not defeat her claim for maintenance. The Supreme Court held that the wife's right to maintenance accrued from the date of solemnization of marriage and continued during the subsistence of marital relationship. Since divorce had taken place during pendency of litigation, the wife was also entitled to maintenance for the period of iddat. The judgment of the High Court was set aside and the entitlement of the petitioner wife to maintenance from the date of valid marriage was restored in the amount of Rs.5,000 per month as determined by the District Court, including maintenance for the period of iddat. The petition was converted into appeal and allowed.

AMBREEN AKRAM vs ASAD ULLAH KHAN — 2026 SCMR 1 SUPREME-COURT

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