Lahore High Court Issues Orders and Decisions

Updated: 11:58 AM PKT — June 5, 2026

In the specific case leading to the ruling, the court heard a petition from a woman married in 2015 whose dower was set at two acres of land. Her husband had paid Rs 1.6 million, the land’s value in 2015, in a settlement approved by a trial court. The High Court has now declared that decision null and void and remanded the case for a retrial.

The court’s order emphasized that a Nikahnama is a civil contract and a wife cannot be deprived of her stipulated rights. It further stated that a husband cannot take advantage of any ambiguity to usurp these rights and that the trial court had failed to correctly interpret the dower clause.

Updated: 10:56 AM PKT — June 5, 2026

In a significant ruling on a dower (Haq-e-Mehar) dispute, the Lahore High Court’s Multan Bench has accepted a woman’s petition and set aside a trial court’s decision. The High Court ruled that if a husband opts to pay cash in lieu of property promised in the marriage contract, the payment must be calculated based on the property’s current market value, not its value at the time of the marriage.

The judgment, issued by Justice Sultan Tanvir, emphasized that a marriage contract (Nikahnama) is a civil agreement and its terms must be interpreted according to the true intent of the parties. The court stated that a wife cannot be deprived of her agreed-upon rights and that a husband cannot exploit any ambiguity to do so. The case, which involved a dower of two acres of land from a 2015 marriage, has been sent back to the trial court for a new hearing.

Updated: 9:24 AM PKT — June 5, 2026

The Lahore High Court’s decision to uphold the death sentences in the motorway gang-rape case has drawn international attention, with entrepreneur Elon Musk publicly praising the verdict. In a post on social media platform X, Musk described the ruling as a “courageous decision” and wrote, “Bravo Pakistan! This is what we should be doing in the West.”

Musk’s comments were in response to a post by British politician Rupert James Graham, who also termed the court’s ruling as positive news. The Lahore High Court on Wednesday dismissed the appeals of convicts Abid Malhi and Shafqat Baga, confirming the death sentences handed down to them by an anti-terrorism court in March 2021.