No Legal sanctity to Shariat Courts: SC Mohana Nath Tuesday July 08,2014 New Delhi- A Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice C.K. Prasad and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose on Monday declared that no legal status has been granted to the Shariat Courts against a PIL filed by a Delhi based advocate, Vishwa Karma Madan questioning the constitutional validity of Shariat Courts which allegedly run a parallel judicial system in the country and take decisions on the fundamental rights of the Muslim citizens. . But the SC did not call it unconstitutional. The petitioner contended that the Fundamental Rights of the Muslims are curtailed and that the Darul Qaza and Darul-iftaa operate in Muslim dominated districts where people cannot oppose the rulings thus citing an example where the petitioner stated that a Muslim girl had to desert her husband because a fatwa directed her to live with her father-in-law who had allegedly raped her. The Muslim Personal Law Board, as represented by Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran argued that the notices issued by the Board are not of binding in nature and the citizens are free to approach the Court if their Fundamental Rights are infringed. The All India Personal Law Board had earlier submitted that fatwa was not binding on people and it was just an opinion of a mufti (cleric) and he has no power and authority to implement it. The apex court in its decision said there is no doubt that such a court has no legal status while noting that in some cases, orders were being passed by them which violate human rights and advocates punishment of the innocent persons” and hence, ordered that no ‘Darul Qaza’ should give verdict which affects rights of a person who is not before it. The Bench further observed that “issuance of Fatwa on rights, status and obligation of individual Muslim, in their opinion, would not be permissible, unless asked for by the person concerned or in case of incapacity, by the person. The Court calling the Shariat Courts to be constitutional told the petitioner that a court can interfere only when somebody’s rights are violated by these decrees and that “some fatwas may be wise and issued for the general good also”.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 08:11:28 +0000
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