The wife of a $100 million investment tycoon may proceed with a divorce case in Texas after the state Supreme Court ruled that his secret Sharia divorce did not prevent her from seeking relief in the state.
According to a court filing issued Friday, Mohammad Ali Choudhri married Hira Azhar in Pakistan in 2008 in an arranged marriage.
Choudhri, who was 28 at the time, had lived in Texas since he was 3 but traveled to Pakistan to find a bride. Azhar was 18 when the couple married, the filing said.
Azhar, now 36, moved to Houston in 2010 after securing a visa. She has alleged that Choudhri subjected her to physical and emotional abuse during their marriage, according to the ruling.
The real estate mogul, now 46, sent Azhar back to Pakistan in 2013 to renew her visa. While she was there, he began pursuing a divorce under Sharia law, the court filing said.
Under Islamic law, a husband may unilaterally end a marriage by saying or writing the words “I divorce thee” three times.
Choudhri did not inform Azhar that he intended to divorce her. Instead, the ruling said, he published a notice in a small Pakistani newspaper for five days.
Azhar never saw the notice and did not learn about the divorce until two years after it was finalized in May 2013, according to the court document.
Although the couple accumulated $100 million in assets during their marriage, Choudhri was required to pay Azhar just $50, her lawyers told KPRC at the time.
A Texas Supreme Court ruling said Mohammad Ali Choudhri married Hira Azhar in Pakistan in 2008 in an arranged marriage
Azhar moved to Houston in 2010 to join Choudhri. Public records show the couple lived in this $1 million mansion owned by the real estate mogul’s parents
Azhar returned to Texas in June 2015 and filed for divorce in Harris County, according to the ruling obtained by Our News Outlet.
She also asked the court to divide the couple’s marital property.
The Harris County court, however, recognized the Pakistani divorce under the legal doctrine of international comity and dismissed her petition, the filing said.
International comity is a legal principle under which courts may recognize and enforce judgments issued by courts in other countries.
The Harris County court also rejected Azhar’s request for a division of the marital estate, according to the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion.
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Azhar appealed to Houston’s First Court of Appeals, but a judge affirmed the lower court’s decision.
After more than a decade of legal proceedings, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled in Azhar’s favor and overturned that decision.
Choudhri sent Azhar back to Pakistan to renew her visa in 2013 and pursued a divorce under Sharia law while she was there. She was reportedly left with only $50
The Texas Supreme Court determined that the notice Choudhri provided to Azhar was “constitutionally inadequate.”
‘The notice in this case, involving five days of publication in a single obscure outlet, does not suffice,’ the justices wrote in an opinion issued Friday.
They argued that foreign judgments are not automatically entitled to be recognized in Texas, especially if they conflict with state policy.
‘As a matter of law, the notice provided here is constitutionally inadequate, and far short of what our public policy demands,’ the court wrote.
‘Other countries are welcome to conclude otherwise, but their judgments are not entitled to comity in a Texas court.’
The justices added that ‘no foreign judgment is entitled to comity when it contradicts the fundamental guarantees of the Texas and United States Constitutions.’
They further ruled that Azhar ‘should be able to pursue divorce in Texas under Texas law.’
The case will now be sent back to the trial court for further proceedings.
Choudhri is the founder and CEO of Jetall Capital and has acquired more than $1.2 billion of real estate assets across the US, Mexico, Europe and Dubai, according to his website
The real estate tycoon (above with his mother and other relatives) has lived in Texas since he was three years old, the court filing said
Choudhri, founder and CEO of Jetall Capital, has acquired over $1.2 billion of real estate assets across the US, Mexico, Europe and Dubai, according to his website.
But despite his apparent riches, the mogul has been involved in multiple legal disputes over the years.
He was arrested by US Marshals in April last year in connection with bankruptcy litigation. He was also sued in a US court by the National Bank of Kuwait.
