Indigenization of Restitution of Conjugal Rights in Pakistan: A Plea for its Abolition

Abstract

The paper is a socio-legal analysis of the remedy of restitution of conjugal rights (RCR) with reference to Pakistan. It analyzes the way an alien remedy of the RCR - a legal transplant by the colonial government of British India- has been indigenized in the country. The RCR has progressively extended its sphere of influence multifariously. In addition to its implications for determination of rights and responsibilities of spouses in matrimonial cases such as dower, maintenance and nature of dissolution, the RCR is employed in sexual offences for avoiding or delaying judicial trial - metamorphosing the affirmative remedy of the RCR into a defense plea. The RCR is a domesticated version of a suit for specific performance, but it has not retained that essence and complexion over the years due to its receptiveness to pervasive misuse. It is a readymade legal instrument in the hands of unscrupulous husbands to be employed as sword and shield against the rights of their wives. There are signs of this realization in legislative instruments and judicial pronouncements, but without abolishing the RCR it is difficult to curb its exploitation.