ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ruled that a husband’s delegation of the right to his wife to divorce also includes the right to revoke the divorce, provided it is done within a period of 90 days of issuing the divorce notice.

Section 8 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 provides that “where the right to divorce has been duly delegated to wife by husband and if she wishes to exercise that right, or where any of the parties to a marriage wishes to dissolve the marriage otherwise than by talaq, the provisions of section 7 of the ordinance will apply mutatis mutandis [a Latin phrase signifying that a principle, rule, or situation can be applied to a new context with the specific modifications required for that new scenario],” observed Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, a three-judge SC bench, also including Justice Siddiqui as its member, had taken up an appeal filed by one Muhammad Hassan Sultan against the Sindh High Court’s Oct 7, 2024 decision rejecting his plea.

Justice Siddiqui observed section 8(i) of the ordinance expressly recognises the delegation of the right to divorce to the wife and also provides that section 7 will likewise apply to the delegated right of divorce.

Court rejects husband’s appeal, upholds high court order

As such, once the right to divorce has been delegated to the wife, she stands in the shoes of the husband in Section 7; i.e. she exercises all rights and powers and is under all obligations and liabilities as the husband under Section 7, the court observed in the 12-page judgement while dismissing the appeal.

This means that if the wife wishes to divorce her husband, she must issue a notice to the chairman of the union council and supply a copy to the husband, and that the divorce will not be effective until 90 days after the notice has been served. Besides, the wife can expressly or otherwise revoke the divorce at any time before the expiry of the 90-day period, the judgement emphasised.

The controversy at hand revolved around the questions whether a talaq in whatever form, including talaq-i-bidat, once initiated, can be withdrawn by the initiating party within the 90-day period under section 7 of the ordinance, and whether the same principle applies to a divorce initiated by a wife even if the proceedings have been initiated through delegated powers. The issue was whether the same principle of withdrawal would be applicable when the delegated powers were unconditional.

In November 2016, both Muhammad Hassan Sultan (petitioner husband) and respondent Morial Shah (wife) got married.

The judgement noted it was not in dispute that the husband had delegated the right of divorce to the wife unconditionally. After marriage, the couple settled abroad in New York, US, and were later blessed with a daughter on Aug 9, 2021.

The dispute arose between the couple in June 2023 when the wife came back to Karachi with her daughter and, on July 3, 2023, served a notice of divorce on her husband under section 7(1) of the ordinance.

The husband filed custody proceedings in New York on July 19, 2023 against the wife. Consequently, the New York court passed orders directing the wife to return to New York with the daughter, the judgement recalled.

On Aug 10, 2023, seemingly within the 90-day period, the wife withdrew the divorce proceedings and returned to New York, and in consequence of such withdrawal, the chairman of the Union/Arbitration Council, Cantonment Board Karachi, disposed of the divorce proceedings on Aug 11, 2023.

On the same day, the husband attempted to serve notice for divorce under section 7(1) of the ordinance but, on Nov 10, 2023, urged the UC chairman to suspend the divorce proceedings commenced via the notice. The UC chairman disposed of the proceedings on Jan 3, 2024. The two orders were then challenged before the SHC.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s side had argued that since the divorce deed was accompanied with a notice under section 7 of the ordinance, the wife had pronounced three consecutive talaqs (talaq-i-bidat), hence the divorce was effected immediately, and that section 7 of the ordinance was only a formality.

The judgement observed that there was no dispute that the wife revoked the divorce proceedings and withdrew them before the expiry of the 90-day period. In these circumstances, where the right to divorce has been delegated unconditionally, it must — and has, in the instant case — included the right to revoke or withdraw the divorce.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2025