November 8, 2003	Saturday	Ramazan 12, 1424

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ISLAMBAD, Nov 7: The Federal Shariat Court has issued notices to Attorney General of Pakistan and advocates-general of provinces to assist the court if the family court has powers to dissolve the marriage of Shia couples.

The petitioner, Ali S. Sheikh, stated before the Federal Shariat Court that as per Fiqh Jaafria, a marriage could be dissolved only through pronouncement of Talaq by reciting of “Seeghas” in the presence of wife or her representative/s and two witnesses, and the family court had no jurisdiction to pass a decree under the Dissolution of the Marriage Act, 1939.

The petitioner’s wife has obtained a decree of dissolution of marriage from the family court by filing a suit for the dissolution of marriage. The petitioner stated that the power of the court to dissolve the marriage, was in violation of the holy Quran and Sunnat.

He further said that the judges of the family court were ordinary civil judges and not religious scholars and thus they could not pronounce the dissolution of marriage of a Muslim couple.

He further stated that a woman could not claim divorce just by deposing in a court that she was not prepared to live with her husband.

He prayed to the court to declare that the dissolution of marriage by the family courts under the Dissolution of Marriage Act, 1939, as repugnant to injunctions of the holy Quran and Sunnat.