India, Aug. 13 -- A Muslim couple can dissolve their marriage through mutual consent without a written agreement, the Gujarat high court has said, setting aside a lower court order that dismissed a petition for it.

A bench of justices AY Kogje and NS Sanjay Gowda said that when parties to the Muslim marriage mutually agree to dissolve their marriage, they are at liberty to do so. "...under this mutual agreement, the nikah [marriage] stands dissolved. In the available literature as referred to...there is nothing to suggest that there has to be a written agreement...nor is there a practice prevailing regarding maintaining the register to record such agreement for mutually dissolved nikah," the court said on July 23.

The couple in this cas...