New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that the Shariat courts have no legal sanction and no one is bound to accept a fatwa or diktat by such courts.
The Apex Court gave its verdict on a petition filed by a Delhi-based advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan, challenging parallel courts run by institutions like the Darul Qaza and Darul-Iftaa.
In his petition, he stated that institutions like Darul Qaza and Darul-iftaa are operating like parallel courts which take decisions on the fundamental rights of the Muslim citizens.
He also reportedly said that religious clerics qazis and muftis appointed by them cannot take a call on the liberty of the Muslims by issuing fatwas and curtail their fundamental rights.
The petitioner further argued that the Darul Qaza and Darul-iftaa operate in Muslim dominated districts where people cannot oppose the rulings.
Citing an example, 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 apex court had reserved the judgment in the case in February earlier this year and had reportedly said that it cannot interfere with the religious decrees issued by the Muslim clerics.
The court further told the petitioner that “some fatwas may be wise and issued for the general good also,” the news report stated.
