- Justice Nisar says no place for any verbal dealings in law
- PPP leader Khuhro contracted ‘verbal’ marriage with third wife
KARACHI: Lawyer Farooq H Naek on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that former Sindh Assembly speaker Nisar Khuhro contracted only a verbal marriage in 2007.
A two-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar, was hearing the appeal of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader against his disqualification. Naek said that Khuhro married his third wife in 2007 verbally and divorced (verbally) her in 2017.
The chief justice told Naek that the law has no place for any such verbal dealings and it was necessary to legally register a marriage. He questioned the lawyer on whether Khuhro had sought permission from his first wife before marrying the third, noting that the former lawmaker could be facing another legal case if he hadn’t.
Naek informed the court that Khuhro, who had been disqualified by an election tribunal, has also been accused of concealing a daughter. “I don’t think that a person will not accept his daughter in court,” the chief justice remarked, asking whether Khuhro was present in the court. To this, Naek replied that he wasn’t present but his former wife had submitted an affidavit in the court.
Citing a previous ruling, the chief justice said that there was no legal standing of a verbal marriage and asked for authentic legal evidence to be brought to court for further investigation. Naek requested the court for further time as Khuhro was busy with the elections.
The court adjourned the case with a warning to Khuhro to take matters seriously. It also asked Khuhro to present permission by his first two wives to contract a third marriage. Khuhro’s daughter is contesting the election in her father’s place from PPP on PS-11 (Larkana-II).
