A local court in Peshawar has sentenced the accused who married the second wife without the permission of the first wife to three months in prison and fined five thousand.
The court of Senior Civil Judge Ghulam Hameed of Peshawar Family Court has sentenced the accused Sajjad Khan on Saturday, April 20, after being found guilty in the 2022 case.
According to the court decision (a copy of which is available with Independent Urdu), the arguments of the lawyers of the petitioner and the accused were heard in this case, in which the accused was sentenced to three months imprisonment and a fine of five thousand after being found guilty of polygamy. has been imposed.
According to the suit, ‘on default of the fine by the offender, after three months, the sentence will be further 15 days of imprisonment.’
According to the court decision, this sentence has been given under section five of section six of the Muslim Family Ordinance 1961.
This clause states that no person shall enter into another marriage without the permission of the Arbitration Council of Pakistan.
A person remarrying under this clause shall submit an application to the Arbitration Council to ensure that the consent of the first wife has been obtained for the second marriage.
In the application, the person wishing to remarry shall also state the reason for remarriage and thereafter the applicant and his/her existing wife or wives shall select a representative to represent them in the Arbitration Council.
What is the Arbitration Council?
The Arbitration Council of Pakistan is a government body created under the Muslim Family Ordinance to resolve disputes between spouses.
In this council the court decision is submitted even after divorce or khula and the arbitration council tries to resolve the dispute between spouses without divorce or khula.
However, the Arbitration Council cannot compel either of the spouses to take any decision and can only play the role of mediator and invite both to be heard.
This section contains related reference points (Related Nodes field).
According to clause number six of the Muslim Family Ordinance, if someone marries a second wife without the permission of the existing wife or wives, the punishment will be one month to three months imprisonment and a fine of five thousand to one lakh rupees.
Similarly, in case of second marriage without permission, the husband will be obliged to pay the full right of dowry to the first wife. Similarly, if a person divorces his wife, that person is bound to inform the Arbitration Council about the divorce.
The Arbitration Council shall be bound that if the wife is pregnant during the divorce, the divorce shall not take place until the child is born and the Arbitration Council shall not issue a certificate of divorce.
Peshawar High Court lawyer Sajeed Afridi of Sajeed & Tariq Afghan Associates firm told Independent Urdu regarding the decision that the convicted person can apply for cancellation of sentence or bail in civil court.
He said, “Certain provisions of the Muslim Family Ordinance were challenged in the Federal Sharia Court, including the provision of the first wife’s permission for second marriage, but no decision has been issued by the Federal Sharia Court yet.” .’
Sajeed said that there is no condition of permission for second marriage in Sharia laws, but there is in the Muslim Family Ordinance of Pakistani law that the permission of the first wife is mandatory for second marriage.
When he was asked whether the marriage will be dissolved after this punishment, he replied that according to the law, the punishment has nothing to do with the dissolution of the marriage and the marriage will remain in place.