ISLAMABAD, March 30: A couple, who contracted love marriage about two years back, reached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) levelling serious charges against each other.

Sheikh Amir Naseem filed a petition against his wife Mehvish Gilani after she demanded Rs200 million which was mentioned as a dowry in their ‘Nikah Nama’.

Naseem tried to convince the IHC judge Noorul Haq N. Qureshi that his wife had forged the Nikah Nama. He said the original dowry was Rs20,000 only. However, the woman offered the Nikah Nama for verification.

According to court documents, Naseem, a Multan-based businessman, contracted second marriage with Mehvish on June 2, 2011, in Islamabad’s Serena Hotel. It was also the second marriage of the woman.

According to the petition of Naseem, the Nikah was registered in the record of union council Tarlai Kalan, a suburb of Islamabad, on July 17, 2011.

The petitioner contended that prior to her marriage Mehwish had some plans in her mind and forged the dower amount to extort money.

The petition claimed that Naseem had never agreed upon the amount of Rs200 million whereas during the time of marriage he was told that the dower would be Rs20,000.

The petition expressed the possibility that the woman might have got signatures of Naseem on some blank paper and later used it for changing the amount to Rs200 million.

There is no example in the country where a couple would have fixed the dowry at Rs200 million, the petition said, adding that in the previous Nikah with one Syed Asim Gilani, the dowry for Mehvish had been fixed at Rs5,000.

Mehvish, on the other hand, told the court an entirely different story. She said she had been in friendship with Naseem for over six years when he formally proposed her.

“Initially, I refused because I knew he was a married man but later agreed after his repeated insistence.”

According to her, her husband knew that after the disclosure of the second marriage his family might pressure him to divorce Mehvish and then Rs200 million dowry would play a deterrence role and his family would digest the second marriage.

She said after the marriage, they started living a happy life until October last year when she gave birth to a son. After this, Naseem disclosed the second marriage to his relatives.

But things did not go in accordance to his plan as a local MNA, who was a brother-in-law of Naseem, insisted him to divorce Mehvish.

She said Naseem then changed his mind and left her alone without divorcing her because of the dower amount. He is also not giving any maintenance to me and our child, she added.

“When I filed a suit for the recovery of the maintenance for the child in Multan, Naseem filed another suit in Islamabad.

The court, however, maintained status quo in the matter and fixed the case for April 4.

This case has two dimensions. First, the husband alleged forgery in the Nikah Nama and the second is that the court would examine the financial status of the husband, said Dr Aslam Khaki, a senior lawyer and jurist consultant to the Federal Shariat Court.

If the court finds any forgery, the case will be decided in favour of the husband, he said, adding in case the woman proves the authenticity of the Nikah Nama, the court will direct Naseem to pay Rs200 million dower after examining his financial position.

There is also the possibility in such cases that the husband gifts property to someone in order to lower his financial position but such practice can also be challenged in the court, he pointed out.

The woman has to face tough challenges to get her share in the family related matters, he added. — A Reporter