What is wrong if property is sold to a Muslim?
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The advocate, representing one of the dozen members of an extended family fighting over a family legacy, had told the court that one of the claimants was trying to sell a portion of the property to a
The HC judge asked him, “What is wrong if a Muslim is sold the property?”
Realising the inappropriateness of his statement, and on being asked by the judge again, the advocate clarified that he meant to say that selling of the property to a third party will further complicate the issue, and the third party being a Muslim was just incidental.
Already over a dozen family members were involved in the partition suit over the property worth Rs 100 crore, the advocate said. The religious identity of the third party may have been incidental in this case, but it nonetheless brought to the fore an unwritten code prevalent in the city by which some communities, Muslims in particular, are prevented from renting or buying property.
The discrimination is not overt, but is done not so subtly through the dietary preference of the tenant or buyer, with non-vegetarianism being cited as reason for refusal. Although things are not as bad as in the blatant case of a Mumbai broker who put up an ad for a flat saying “No Muslims are welcome”, the idea of exclusion behind such ‘discrimination’ have been given a boost by development of settlements meant for a particular community. Only Brahmins can own property in a township near Bengaluru with 1,200 residential plots; a similar layout on the outskirts has been planned for the Lingayat community. The court, however, gave a twist in the tale by mentioning 'Muslim Gentleman,' in its order.
It noted that the petitioner in the HC case was apprehensive that there would be multiplicity of proceedings as one of the respondents was trying to sell the property to a third party who happens to be a 'Muslim Gentleman,' and that it could lead to multiple transactions in the property thereafter.
