United States, Section 7 of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance, 1961, applies to all forms of talaq
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has ruled that a divorce can be revoked within 90 days, regardless of its form, under Section 7 of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance, 1961 (MFLO).
The court clarified that Section 7 of the MFLO applies to all forms of talaq, including talaq-e-bidat – instant triple talaq.
Section 7(1) of the MFLO provides that when a husband utters “talaq in any form”, he is required by law to provide written notice of such statement to the wife and to deliver a copy thereof to the wife.
Section 7(3) then provides that the talaq, unless revoked earlier, expressly or otherwise, shall not take effect until the expiry of a period of ninety days from the date on which the notice was given.
According to a verdict by a three-member court, divorce does not take effect immediately after it is pronounced and it only becomes effective after 90 days, unless it is revoked earlier.
The verdict written by Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui draws on previous landmark rulings to emphasize that the legislation aims to prevent hasty or impulsive divorces and provide a window for reconciliation.
The court also ruled that a wife with delegated divorce rights has the same powers as a husband.
Under Article 8 of the MFLO, when the husband delegates the right of divorce to the wife, the latter has the right to exercise it with all the rights and limitations applicable to the husband.
The case
Petitioner Muhammad Hassan Sultan and Morial Shah married in 2016 and later lived in New York. The husband had delegated to his wife the unconditional right to divorce under clause 18 of the nikahnama – a legal option available in Pakistan.
In June 2023, marital problems arose and the woman returned to Karachi with their young daughter.
On July 3, 2023, she issued a notice of divorce under section 7(1) of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance, 1961 (MFLO).
According to the law, a divorce does not take effect immediately and only becomes effective after 90 days from the date of notification, unless the parties reconcile or the party initiating it revokes the divorce.
During this period, the husband filed a custody proceeding in a New York court, which ordered the wife and child to return to New York.
Following this, on August 10, 2023, the wife withdrew her notice of divorce. The Chairman of the Karachi Arbitration Board accepted the withdrawal and decided the proceedings on August 11, 2023 (“First Order”).
Later, on August 23, 2023, the husband attempted to issue his own Section 7 divorce notice.
In this second set of proceedings, the local union committee ultimately concluded that it did not have jurisdiction because the wife resided in New York and, under the rules and a government SRO, divorce proceedings involving overseas spouses must be handled by Pakistan’s mission abroad.
The president therefore ruled on this second file on January 3, 2024 (“Second Order”).
The petitioner challenged both orders in the Sindh High Court, but his constitutional appeal was dismissed. He then appealed to the Supreme Court.
One of the legal questions before the SC was whether a divorce (talaq) initiated in any form can be revoked within the 90-day period provided for in Section 7 of the MFLO;
The court also had to decide whether the same rule applies to a divorce initiated by a wife exercising delegated powers, i.e. whether she too can revoke it.
It also had to be determined whether the Karachi Arbitration Board had jurisdiction to deal with the husband’s second notice of divorce while the wife was living in New York and whether the wife’s withdrawal was in bad faith because she subsequently filed divorce proceedings in New York.
The SC, in its verdict, held that the wife could issue notice under Section 7(1); let the 90-day period run and revoke the divorce at any time before the 90-day period expires.
As the delegation in this case was expressly “unconditional”, the wife also had the right to revoke the divorce. He, however, said that the Karachi Arbitration Board had no jurisdiction to decide the husband’s subsequent divorce notice.
Rule 3(b) of the MFLO Rules states that jurisdiction over divorce lies with the union council where the wife resides at the time of decree.
At that time, the wife was undoubtedly living in New York.
Under an SRO issued by the federal government, Pakistan’s foreign missions act as arbitration boards for matters involving Pakistanis abroad. Therefore, only the Pakistan Mission in New York could process the husband’s divorce notice.
The Supreme Court ruled that the wife’s motivations or subsequent actions — such as filing a proceeding overseas — cannot jeopardize a legal revocation within the 90-day window. Neither the Arbitration Council nor the SHC, which has constitutional jurisdiction, could examine such allegations.
