Wife has last laugh after $100m Texas tycoon tried to get secret SHARIA divorce behind her back and pay her just $50 to end marriage

The wife of a $100 million investment tycoon can now pursue a divorce in Texas after he tried to get a Sharia divorce in secret, the state’s Supreme Court has ruled.

Mohammad Ali Choudhri wed his wife, Hira Azhar, in Pakistan in 2008 through an arranged marriage, according to the court filing issued Friday.

Choudhri, then 28, had lived in Texas since he was three but traveled overseas to find a bride. Azhar was only 18 when they tied the knot, the court filing said. 

Azhar, now 36, moved to Houston in 2010 after obtaining a visa, but claims Choudhri was physically and emotionally abusive throughout the marriage, the ruling said.

The real estate mogul, now 46, sent his wife back to Pakistan to renew her visa in 2013 and, while she was there, worked to divorce her under Sharia law, the filing added.

Under Islamic law, a husband can unilaterally divorce his wife by saying ‘I divorce thee’ three times either verbally or in writing.

Choudhri did not tell Azhar about his intent to end their marriage and instead published a notice in a small Pakistani newspaper for five days, the ruling said.

She never saw the publication and only found out about the divorce two years after it was finalized in May 2013, according to the court document.

Choudhri only had to pay her $50 despite the couple having amassed $100 million in assets throughout the course of their union, her lawyers told KPRC at the time.

Azhar returned to Texas in June 2015 and filed for divorce in Harris County, according to the court ruling obtained by the Daily Mail. 

She also sought a division of marital property. 

But the Harris County court ultimately recognized the Pakistani proceedings under the legal doctrine of international comity and dismissed her petition, the filing said.

International comity is a legal principle that allows courts to recognize and enforce judgments issued by foreign countries.

The Harris County court also denied her claim for a division of the marital estate, the supreme court opinion said.

She took her case to the First Court of Appeals in Houston, but a judge upheld the lower court’s decision.

Now, after more than a decade of fighting, the state’s highest court has ruled in Azhar’s favor and reversed the ruling.

The Texas Supreme Court concluded 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, 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.