At the time, Choudhri only had to pay her $50
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the wife of a $100 million investment tycoon can now pursue a divorce after he tried to get a Sharia divorce in secret.
Mohammad Ali Choudhri married Hira Azhar in Pakistan in 2008 through an arranged marriage.
Choudhri had lived in Houston since he was three and travelled to Pakistan to find a bride.
Azhar was 18 when they married, while Choudhri was 28. She moved to Houston in 2010 after obtaining a visa and later alleged that he was physically and emotionally abusive during their marriage.
The couple accumulated more than $100 million in community assets during their Texas-domiciled marriage.
In 2012, Choudhri sent Azhar to Pakistan in connection with renewing her visa. While she was there, he worked to divorce her under Sharia law.
Choudhri did not tell Azhar about his intention to end their marriage.
Instead, he published notice in a small Pakistani newspaper for five days.
Azhar did not see the publication and was unaware that divorce proceedings had taken place. She only found out about the divorce two years later.
Choudhri’s Pakistani divorce was finalised in May 2013.
At the time, Choudhri only had to pay her $50 despite the couple having amassed $100 million in assets throughout the course of their union.
Azhar returned to Texas in June 2015 and filed for divorce in Harris County. She also sought a division of the couple’s marital property.
The Harris County court recognised the Pakistani proceedings under the legal doctrine of international comity. It subsequently dismissed Azhar’s divorce petition and denied her claim for a division of the marital estate.
International comity is a legal principle under which courts may recognise certain judgments issued by foreign courts. However, foreign judgments are not automatically enforceable when they conflict with fundamental legal protections.
Azhar appealed to the First Court of Appeals in Houston, which upheld the lower court’s decision in 2023. She then took the case to the Texas Supreme Court.
On September 25, 2026, the state’s highest court reversed the appeals court’s ruling and sent the case back to the trial court for further proceedings. The decision was issued per curiam, with Justices Huddle and Young not participating.
The justices concluded that the notice given to Azhar was constitutionally inadequate because she had not been properly informed about the proceedings.
The justices wrote: “The notice in this case, involving five days of publication in a single obscure outlet, does not suffice.”
The court also said foreign judgments are not automatically entitled to recognition in Texas, particularly when they conflict with fundamental constitutional protections.
The court said: “As a matter of law, the notice provided here is constitutionally inadequate, and far short of what our public policy demands.
“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”.
The court therefore ruled that Azhar “should be able to pursue divorce in Texas under Texas law”.
The ruling does not itself finalise the divorce or determine how the couple’s assets will be divided. Instead, the case returns to the trial court for further proceedings.
Choudhri is the founder and CEO of Jetall Capital.
The company says he has acquired more than $1.2 billion in real estate assets across the United States, Mexico, Europe and Dubai.
The Supreme Court’s decision means Azhar’s Texas divorce and property claims can now proceed despite the Pakistani divorce previously recognised by the lower courts.
