Madras high court bans unauthorised 'Sharia courts'

Madras high court bans unauthorised 'Sharia courts' CHENNAI: Unauthorised 'Sharia' courts functioning on mosque premises in Tamil Nadu cannot exist anymore, as the Madras high court has banned them. Making it clear that religious places and other places of worships are meant for religious purposes only, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sundar said on

Monday that the state government should ensure that they do not function and file a status report within four weeks. An NRI, Abdul Rahman, filed a public interest litigation in the court stating that a Makka Masjid Shariat council was functioning like a regular court from a mosque on the Anna Salai in Chennai. It was dealing with matrimonial disputes, summoning parties and passing divorce orders, he said.

His senior counsel, A Sirajudeen, said the PIL had been filed "to safeguard the interests of a large number of innocent Muslims" who silently suffered at the hands of sharia courts/councils in Tamil Nadu. He said many Muslim were affected by the system, as the council had created an impression among Muslims that it had been functioning as per Sharia law and all its orders and judgments were religiously binding on Muslims.

Noting that he too was a victim of the council, he sought to reunite with his wife. But he was forced to sign a letter of talaq, and the divorce was pronounced.