A public interest petition has asked the High Court to direct authorities to formulate guidelines ensuring deferred dower payments reflect inflation and the depreciation of the taka when settled years after marriage.
Supreme Court lawyer Fahmida Akhter filed the writ petition on Sunday, seeking a policy under Section 10 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961.
The petition calls for a specific methodology, policy and valuation framework to determine the value of deferred dower in line with changes in purchasing power.
It also invokes the constitutional guarantees of fundamental rights under Articles 7, 27, 28 and 31.
The respondents include the secretaries of the law, women and children affairs, religious affairs and home ministries, as well as the chairman of the Bangladesh Law Commission.
Fahmida said dower is both a legal and Islamic marital right of a wife, yet many husbands avoid paying it despite their legal obligation.
She noted that under Section 10 of the ordinance, if no payment schedule is specified in the marriage contract, the entire dower is deemed payable on demand.
In practice, however, a small portion is often shown as paid through jewellery or clothing, while the remainder is deferred and usually claimed only after divorce, she said.
Citing an example, she said if Tk 100,000 remained unpaid from a Tk 200,000 dower fixed 20 years ago, courts often award the same nominal amount decades later, despite its sharply reduced purchasing power.
She argued this undermines the purpose of dower as financial security for women.
A policy adjusting deferred dower for inflation, she said, would encourage prompt payment, strengthen women’s rights and reduce the large number of lawsuits filed to recover unpaid dower after divorce.
Fahmida also rejected the common belief that dower is waived if a wife initiates divorce or leaves the marriage voluntarily, saying the husband remains legally bound to pay it in full.