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LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that in disputes involving alleged love marriages and claims of abduction or forced marriage, courts must examine the entire chain of surrounding circumstances instead of relying solely on documentary evidence such as a nikahnama (marriage certificate).
In a judgement authored by Justice Anwaar Hussain, the LHC dismissed a petition filed by Muhammad Jamil challenging an appellate court decree in favour of a woman who had sought a decree of jactitation of marriage (takzeeb-i-nikah), maintaining that she had been abducted and forced into marriage against her will.
The judge framed the principal legal question as: “What is the correct approach for a court while appreciating evidence in cases where an alleged love marriage is relied upon by one party and allegations of abduction, coercion or forced marriage are raised by the other?”
According to the judgement, the woman filed a suit for jactitation of marriage, alleging that she had been abducted and compelled to contract marriage without her free consent.
