The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that ‘Haq mehr’ must be paid whenever the wife demands it. It is not a payment that a husband has to make to his wife only in the event of divorce.

A three-page written order authored by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa in a case related to non-payment of the money stated, ‘’ “Mehr has to be paid whenever demanded by the wife”.

Mahr refers to the mandatory payment or gift from the groom to the bride at the time of marriage. It is a fundamental part of an Islamic marriage contract and is considered the bride’s exclusive right.

The court noted that mehr is an Islamic concept mentioned in the Holy Quran— Surah An-Nisa verse 4 and Surah Al-Baqrah verses 236-7.

In the petition, the husband had contended that since his marriage continued—that he had not divorced his wife—he was not liable to pay the mehr.

The order noted that the wife had to file a suit for recovery of her mehr and maintenance and the husband unnecessarily involved her in litigation, which reached this court after six-and-a-half years.

The top court imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on the citizen for delaying the right of the wife and remarked that the husband would be bound to pay the right of mehr whenever the woman demands.

The court remarked that the right of mehr is a Shariah requirement, whose protection is also present in the laws of the country, if the time of the right mehr is not fixed in the marriage certificate, then the wife can demand at any time.