Marriage could not be sustained without consent of woman: Lahore High Court

LAHORE, Nov 18 (SABAH): After 10 years of the legal battle of a woman,  Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday declared that the marriage could not be maintained without the consent of a woman.

LHC Justice Abid Hussain Chattha ruled the hearing of the case against harassing a woman by making fake marriage documents. He stated, “It is up to a man, to provide evidence whether the wedding was held with a woman’s consent or not.”

The court termed the decision of the trial court as null and void, while Justice Abid Chatta has issued the documents of a nine-page verdict.

As per the petitioner, a woman was blackmailed after the fake marriage documents were made in 2012. The alleged husband had also verbally divorced a woman in panchayat. A woman also made it clear in her statement that she never tied the knot with her alleged husband.

According to the verdict, a woman’s story is simple as the alleged husband prepared the fake marriage documents in order to harass her.

A woman said that when she got married for real her parents participated, while the marriage happened as per a woman’s consent.

The court added, “After the interpretation of the Supreme Court over the laws, it is not possible to intact the decision of the trial court. It is true that a year after the alleged husband divorced her verbally, he filed a case against her after marrying for real.

“The alleged husband has not managed to prove the consent of a woman over marriage,” said the court.

It merits mention that Bakhtawar Bibi had filed the petition against the alleged marriage in the High Court.