India, June 29 -- 'The Telangana High Court has held that a Muslim wife has an absolute and unconditional right to dissolve her marriage through khula and that the husband's consent is not a prerequisite for its validity, in a significant ruling that underscores the autonomy of Muslim women within personal law.' (Hindustan Times, June 27). This case has been prominently reported across the media and is being projected as an unprecedented ruling.

The fact is the Telangana ruling (Arif Ali vs Afsarunnisa, June 24) for the most part, merely reiterates and affirms the elaborate exposition of the law on khula found in a Kerala high court case decided four years earlier (Abdul Samad vs State of Kerala, 2021). The judge-author of the Telangana ...