7.

Talaq

(1) Any man who wishes to divorce his wife shall, as soon as may be after the pronouncement of
talaq in any form whatsoever, give the chairman a notice in writing of his having done so, and
shall supply a copy thereof to the wife.

(2) Whoever, contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punishable with simple
imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to five
thousand rupees, or with both.

(3) Save as provided in sub-section (5) talaq, unless revoked earlier, expressly or otherwise, shall
not be effective until the expiration of ninety days from day on which notice under sub-section
(1) is delivered to the Chairman.

(4) Within thirty days of the receipt of notice under Sub-section (1), the Chairman shall
constitute an Arbitration Council for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation between the
parties, and the Arbitration Council shall take all steps necessary to bring about such
reconciliation.

(5) If the wife be pregnant at the time talaq is pronounced, talaq shall not be effective until the
period mentioned in Sub-section (3) or the pregnancy, whichever later, ends.

(6) Nothing shall debar a wife whose marriage has been terminated by talaq effective under his
section from remarrying the same husband, without an intervening marriage with a third person,
unless such termination is for the third time so effective.

Arguments

1. The All Pakistan women’s Association was in the forefront in claiming legislation to
protect their rights and had in fact started agitation. To alleviate the situation, the then
government constitutes a Commission to consider the various aspects of demands and
make recommendations in relation to the family system.  The reference to Commission
was make a report on the “proper registration of marriage and divorces, the right
exercisable by the either partner through a Court or by other Judicial means,
maintenance, and the establishment of Special Courts to deal expeditiously with cases
affecting women rights.

2. As being the citizen of Pakistan we follow Pakistani Law. And law once made is
protected by all the legislative bodies unless and until it is amended.

3. Muslin Family Law Ordinance 1961 is the prevailing law of Pakistan. And being a
Pakistani we are bound to follow the prevailing law and not the law which does not
exists.
4. The sub sections which are declared to be null and void do not have any statutory
Protection.

5. The law requires that the man give notice through the Union Council and go through the
divorce procedure. Many people accept oral divorce as the law is not enforced, especially
in small towns & rural areas as it is not legally correct to do so.

6. A husband is required to register the divorce through the Union Council, even if he
pronounced it orally. But often men do not do so and it is advisable that the woman
should check with Union Council if she does not receive notice of the registration of
divorce within the period of a month. A woman can go to the Union Council and get her
divorce registered herself as well for her own safety.

7. In Syed Ali Nawaz Gardezi v. Lt.-Col. Muhammad Yusuf, the Supreme Court held
that where the husband did not give notice of talaq to the Chairman, he would be deemed
to have revoked the talaq.
8. The Gardezi case had thus become „the Gardezi rule‟ –failure to give notice of talaq
amounts to revocation.Till the passing of the Protection of Women Act, 2006, husbands
who would not comply with sub-section (3) of section 7 to give notice of talaq would, in
order to harass his divorced wife, accuse her of zina (adultery) with her new husband
(after her marriage with another husband). The Protection of Women Act, 2006 has put
an end to this practice.
9. The importance of registered notice of Talaq is that A verbal talaq is not  recognised by
law and the husband’s failure to send written notice to the Union  Council makes the
talaq ineffective. Even if the Union Council issues a  certificate of talaq, if notice was not
properly served on the wife, the  talaq can be challenged.

10. This law was originally designed to protect women from a instant and unrecorded
divorce. Before 1979  and the introduction of the Zina Ordinance, a woman who was not
properly  divorced and who later remarried could be punished for bigamy and sentenced
up  to 7 years (or up to 10 years if she concealed the previous marriage) and only  on the
complaint of her first husband. However, since 1979, bigamy makes a woman liable to
charges of zina which can carry very severe penalty such as  death. Therefore, it is vital
for a woman to be absolutely clear about her marital status and to have documentary
proof that she is properly divorced.

11. Registration of talaq is only subjected to the country law and it has nothing to do with
Islamic law of Talaq.

12. The principle underlying the Provision section-7 being the intention to achieve the
objective of Holy Quran which is to avoid certainty and exploitation as regards one of the
most important element of an Islamic society which if not recorded, may entail
immorality as also litigation, no valid objection can be raised to the spirit of Section-7 of
the Ordinance.
13. The Holy Quran never intended a divorce to act as a device of instant magic whereby a
woman taken by a man to share his life with all its pleasures, sorrows, sufferings and
happiness is made to disappear for all times to come from his home and heart. Difference
of opinion on validity of instant divorce through triple “Talaq” and ensuing escalating
vice evoked ‘legislative compassion’ which expressed itself in the form of S.7(3) of
Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961, providing for revocation of “Talaq” within a
period of ninety days and such provision is not in conflict with the Injunctions of the
Holy Quran. Shafies and Malikies also share the same view.