DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE ON KHULA
THE WIFE IS ENTITLED TO BRING A SUIT
RETURN OF DOWER
Right to
seek and secure divorce by exercising the right of khula by a Muslim married lady
is recognized since the advent of Islam. Under Islamic Law, the wife has been
given the right to the marital tie broken by a verdict of court if the court reaches
to the conclusion that is not possible for the spouses to live within the
injunctions as laid down in Holy Quran and Sunnah.
The principles behind this rule is to avoid hateful union. If spouses are trusted upon each other they would not live within the limits ordained by God Almighty.
Khula is a
release from the matrimonial bond and right of khula vests in the woman according
to the dictates of the Holy Quran.
Jurisdiction
vests with the court to determine whether the condition of khula exists in the
pleadings or the evidence led by the parties.
Such right
purely vests with the woman because if a woman demands the right of khula, she has
to return up to fifty percent of her deferred dower or up to twenty-five
percent of her admitted prompt dower to the husband.
Fixed hatred
and aversion is an unambiguous expression of her intention not to live with her
husband haven has been considered to be a valid ground for the grant of khula.
CAUSE OF ACTION:
A wife is
entitled to bring a suit for dissolution of marriage in the district of her
residence if she establishes that she has been unjustifiably turned out of the
house by her husband and is entitled to live apart and to be maintained by him
where she resides. If it could be proved that conduct in living apart from the
husband is justified and further that the husband has failed to maintain her
for two years prior to the institution of the suit, she could legitimately
claim dissolution of marriage from the court in the district of her residence
as the part of the cause of action would, in that case, be deemed to arise within the district where she has last taken up residence.
RETURN OF DOWER
Khula in
fact is a right available to a wife for dissolution of marriage in
contradiction to the right of divorce vesting in a husband. Where the disputes differences, in the family life, arise because of an attitude of a wife not
acceptable to the husband, the latter has the power to divorce her.
The right of
“khula” accrues to a wife for the redress of irreconcilable grievance against
her husband.