IANS (05.01.2007) / HRWF Int. (11.01.2007) -
Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email:
info@hrwf.net – The government Friday informed
the Supreme Court that Muslims under their personal law have a right to
establish Shariat panchayats to settle disputes between two people and fatwas
issued by these courts are not in conflict with or parallel to the Indian
judicial system.
Additional Solicitor General
Gopal Subramanian stated this before a bench of judges A.R. Lakshmanan and
Altamas Kabir hearing a petition from advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan seeking a
direction to refrain the All India Muslim Personal Law Board from establishing a
parallel Muslim judicial system (Nizam-e-Qaza) in the
country.
Since most of the other
respondents had not filed their responses to the petition, the bench adjourned
the hearing by 12 weeks.
In his public interest
petition, Madan submitted that a Muslim woman Imrana was allegedly raped by her
father-in-law and the village panchayat passed a fatwa asking her to treat her
father-in-law as her husband.
The Darul-Uloom also declared
that Imrana could not live with her husband. This was endorsed by the AIMPLB. He
sought a declaration that the fatwas pronounced by various authorities were
unenforceable, to direct the central and state governments concerned to take
steps to disband the Dar-ul-Qazas forthwith.
In its reply, the central
government said "freedom guaranteed by Article 26 of the Constitution to every
religious denomination or every section thereof to establish and maintain
institutions for religious and charitable purposes and to manage its own affairs
in the matters of religion would include the freedom to establish
Dar-ul-Qaza/Nizam-e-Qaza (Shariat panchayats) to settle disputes between two
persons professing Islam, according to Shariat.”
It said these courts were not
a parallel judicial system.
"Further
Dar-ul-Qaza/Nizam-e-Qaza do not prevent Muslims to report matters to the
judicial machinery set up under the law of the land. Those who do not want to
resort to Dar-ul-Qaza are at liberty and fully entitled to resort to courts of
law. There is no question of compelling anyone not to report matters to the
judicial machinery. Dar-ul-Qaza and Nizam-e-Qaza are alternative dispute
redressal forums without any enforcement power.
Seeking dismissal of the petition, the government said fatwas issued by the religious courts were only advisory in nature and did not compel anyone to follow them.