Explanation:

RIGHT OF THE WIFE IF NON – PAYMENT OF DOWER

What is the Right of the Wife if Non – Payment of Dower?

The Muslim Law confers upon a wife or a widow the following rights to compel the husband for payment of her dower:

Right to dower as debt: Unpaid dower is like an unpaid debt. It is enforceable by the wife by filing a suit in the Court of Law. If the husband is not alive, the wife is allowed to recover this amount from the legal heirs of the husband.

Refusal to co-habit: If the marriage has not been consummated, the wife has a right to refuse to cohabit with her husband so long as the prompt dower is not paid. In the case of a wife who is a minor or an insane, her guardian has right to refuse to send her to her husband’s house till payment of prompt dower. During her such a stay in her guardian’s house the husband is bound to maintain her. The absolute right of the wife to insist on payment of the prompt dower, before giving him the access to her, is lost after the consummation of the marriage. After consummation the husband in his suit for restitution of conjugal rights upon her refusal can secure only a decree conditional on payment of dower. It was held in Adul Kadir v. Salima ILR 1886 8 ALL 149, that the effect of non-payment of prompt dower is that the wife can refuse to cohabit or refuse to live with husband.

Where the wife is minor or insane her guardian can refuse to allow the husband to take his wife with him till the prompt dower has been paid. If the minor wife is already in the custody of her husband, such guardian can take her back on the ground of non-payment of prompt dower. It was held in Rabia Khatoon v. Mukhtar Ahmed AIR 1966 ALL 548.

Right to retain: After the death of husband the most effective method of enforcement of dower is the exercise of ‘right of retention’. A widow, whose dower remains unpaid, has a right to retain the properties of the husband till her dower debt is satisfied. This right is termed as the right of retention in lieu of unpaid dower and it is available to a widow, whether there is any agreement between the parties for this right or not. Under this right if a wife has taken possession of her husband’s properties lawfully (with free consent of the husband) in lieu of unpaid dower, then she is entitled to retain that possession after the death of her husband, until her dower is paid out of the properties retained by her. This right is exercised against the creditors, if any, of her deceased husband, and his legal heirs. The legal heirs of the husband cannot get possession (and benefit) of the properties of the deceased until they make payments towards unpaid dower in proportion of their respective shares. Thus, this may be said to be a coercive method of recovery of unpaid dower from husband’s legal heirs.