LHC says nikahnama alone cannot prove valid marriage in forced marriage disputes

 

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday laid down important legal principles for lower courts adjudicating disputed love marriage cases, ruling that a registered nikahnama or even a woman's earlier harassment petition cannot, by themselves, conclusively establish a valid marriage where allegations of abduction, coercion or forced marriage are raised.

The court held that judges must go beyond documentary evidence and determine whether the woman's consent was free, voluntary and completely free from coercion. It directed trial courts to examine how the alleged relationship originated, whether the parties genuinely knew each other and whether the circumstances supported a claim of consensual marriage.

The LHC further ruled that where the parties are strangers from different localities, courts are under a legal obligation to inquire into the genesis of the alleged love relationship before accepting a plea of consensual marriage.

Justice Anwaar Hussain of the LHC's Bahawalpur Bench issued the ruling while dismissing a constitutional petition filed by Muhammad Jamil and upholding an appellate court's judgment declaring the disputed marriage invalid after finding it had not been proven to be the result of the woman's free and voluntary consent.

The case arose from a suit for takzeeb-e-nikah (jactitation of marriage) filed by a woman, who maintained that she had been abducted and forced into marriage against her will.

Jamil, however, contended that the parties had developed a consensual relationship, voluntarily eloped and entered into a love marriage. He also filed a suit for restitution of conjugal rights, and both matters were heard together.

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On December 7, 2023, the trial court dismissed the woman's suit after holding that the marriage had been established through the production of a registered nikahnama. It also observed that the parties belonged to the same caste and were previously acquainted, treating the dispute as one concerning dissolution of marriage rather than the validity of the marriage itself.

However, the appellate court overturned that decision on August 27, 2025, ruling that the alleged marriage had not been proven to be the result of the woman's free and voluntary consent, and decreed her suit.

Before the LHC, Jamil's counsel argued that the registered nikahnama and the woman's earlier harassment petition sufficiently established the marriage and sought restoration of the trial court's judgment.