LHC seeks progress report on Christian divorce laws.

LAHORE -- A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) sought progress over a bill submitted in parliament for legislation related to the Christian Divorce Act 1869. Previously, the Lahore High Court had reinstated a section of the act to allow Christian men to divorce women for reasons other than adultery.

The bench, headed by Justice Ayesha A Malik, was hearing an Intra Court Appeal (ICA) challenging the decision of former LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of restoring a section of the Christian Divorce Act 1869.

Former LHC CJ Mansoor Ali Shah had protected the dignity of Christian women after restoring Section 7 of the Christian Divorce Act 1869. The section stated that if a Christian man wanted to divorce his wife, he could do so without levelling allegations of adultery. The single bench handed in the decision on an application filed by Amin Masih through his lawyer Sheraz Zaka.

In the regime of the then military ruler General Ziaul Haq, Section 7 was abolished through the Federal Revision and Ordinance 1981, while Section 10 was kept intact. Under Section 10 of the Christian Divorce Act, it was necessary for a Christian man to level allegations of adultery on his wife to divorce her. Otherwise, the divorce would not be accepted.

Former LHC CJ Mansoor Ali Shah declared the ordinance of the martial law regime as a violation of basic constitutional rights and set it aside. He restored Section 7 under which several reasons were available to divorce a Christian woman.

In the ICA, the appellant, Emanuel Frances, contended the Divorce Act be restored to its previous form by setting aside the order of the former LHC CJ. The petitioner told the court that that the Bible only allows levelling allegations of adultery as grounds for divorce. He said the divorce would 'mature' after a man accused his wife of adultery and produced evidence in support of his statement. He contended the decision of the single bench of former LHC CJ Mansoor Ali Shah tantamount was intervening with someone's religion. He requested the court that the...