SC notice to Centre on PIL against Muslim personal law sections being 'discriminatory' against women
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday sought the Centre's response on a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, on the ground that those are allegedly discriminatory against women.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Panchol took note of the submissions made by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who appeared in the matter for petitioners Poulomi Pavini Shukla and the Nyaya Naari Foundation, and issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.
The plea says the current Shariat inheritance rules are "manifestly discriminatory" against women, often granting them only half or less of the share allocated to their male counterparts.
Bhushan said the 1937 Act violates Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.
He said matters of succession are civil in nature and do not constitute an "essential religious practice" protected under Article 25.
"Saying women will get half or even less than half compared to male counterparts is discriminatory," the lawyer said.
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Karnataka Muslim Convention to be held in Bengaluru on May 16
“What did the Congress government promise? What has it done? What next?” report to be released
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Rajya Muslim Sanghatanegala Okkoota has announced that a state-level ‘Karnataka Muslim Convention’ will be held on May 16 at Town Hall in Bengaluru to draw the Karnataka government’s attention to issues concerning the welfare of the Muslim community.
The organisers said a detailed report titled “What did the Congress government promise? What has it done? What next?” will be released during the convention.
Addressing a press conference at the Press Club in Bengaluru on Wednesday, one of the convention coordinators, Suhail Ahmed Maroor, said the report would review not only the Congress government’s three-year performance but also examine ten major issues on which promises were made to the Muslim community.
He said the report would assess how many of those promises were fulfilled, which commitments remain pending, concerns over political representation, and the demands that the community intends to place before the government.
Maroor said the convention would bring together leaders of community organisations from different parts of the state, senior ulemas, jamaat leaders, lawyers, retired officials, journalists and activists.
The report is expected to cover issues such as the hijab ban, reservation rollback, hate speech and hate crimes, budget allocations, political representation, waqf matters, the anti-cow slaughter law, anti-conversion law, scholarships and educational grants.
Speaking at the press conference, Welfare of Humanity Foundation president Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Husain Nadwi said no politicians would be invited to the convention.
He said the objective of the event was not to create confrontation with any political party, but to seek answers on what the Congress government has done for the development of the Muslim community.
Maulana Khari Zulfiqar Raza Noori of Bilal Masjid said the convention was not intended to target or criticise any individual. However, he said that despite the Muslim community, numbering over one crore in Karnataka, extending strong support to the Congress, the government had failed to provide adequate justice to the community.
Other coordinators, including Tanveer Ahmed and Yahya Damudi, along with ulemas and social activists, were also present at the press conference.
