Pakistani-origin Texas business tycoon gave talaq to his wife under Sharia Law. Over a decade later, Texas Supreme Court has now canceled it.
What is the Sharia divorce case of the Texas tycoon?
The ruling came in a specific case of Pakistan-origin Texas billionaire Mohammad Ali Choudhri and his wife Hira Azhar who got married in Pakistan in 2008 through an arranged marriage. In 2013, the tycoon secretly divorced Azhar in Pakistan under Sharia law. In the Sharia divorce, Choudhri paid only $50 to Azhar. In 2015, Azhar returned to Texas and filed for divorce in Harris County which recognized the Pakistani divorce. Choudhri is the founder and CEO of Jetall Capital and has acquired over $1.2 billion of real estate assets across the US, Mexico, Europe, and Dubai, according to his website.
Azhar challenged the divorce in several courts and finally the Texas Supreme Court said it does not accept the Sharia divorce and now they will have to go through an official divorce process in which Azhar will get to demand Choudhri’s property. Over a decade later, the Texas Supreme Court concluded that the notice that Choudhri provided to Azhar was “constitutionally inadequate”. “Other countries are welcome to conclude otherwise, but their judgments are not entitled to comity in a Texas court,” the court ruled.
Texas Supreme Court has ruled that a divorce granted through Sharia law in Pakistan is not valid in the US state. Then she took her case to the First Court of Appeals in Houston but there too her divorce plea was not granted. He was also sued in US court by the National Bank of Kuwait.
He was arrested by US Marshals in April last year in connection to bankruptcy litigation.