AIMPLB aims at strengthening of Shariat Court

Lucknow: Looking for options to counter the raging triple talaq debate, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has decided to strengthen the network of Darul Qazas (Shariat courts) which primarily deal with marital discords including divorce. The move is likely to revive demand for reviewing constitutional validity of such institutions led by a Qazi and work on the basis of Shariat (Islamic jurisprudence).
Demand for banning Darul Qaza have been made in the past too on the grounds that they were operating as a parallel judicial system in the country. In 2005 a Delhi based advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan had even challenged the validity of such institutions in the Supreme Court. The court, in its July 2014 verdict, stopped short of calling Shariat courts unconstitutional, but said these institute-run courts were functioning parallel to the Indian judicial system and have no legal sanction.
The AIMPLB, during the meeting of its working committee in Lucknow last week, has passed a resolution wherein it was decided that the Board will work towards strengthening of existing Darul Qaza all over the country. “The Board has decided to boost setting up of more Shariat courts across the country and create awareness among Muslims so that they could get their disputes settled before a Qazi,” said AIMPLB member and senior high court lawyer Zafaryab Jilani. He said Darul Qaza judgments were not binding on either of the parties involved and they were free to seek judicial help.
In Lucknow, Darul Qaza Farangi Mahal, which is said to be the oldest Sharia court of the country (almost 300 years old) takes up an average of 120 cases per year. “Most of these cases are related to marital discord and some are about property disputes as well,” said head of the Shariat court Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahli. For all the cases before Sharia court, the bottomline is that cases pending before any court of law are not taken up and judgment of Darul Qaza cannot be forced on anyone, he said.
Similar Shariat courts are functioning in Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat but their reach is limited. Darul Qaza in Kanpur has disposed of 450 cases since its inception in 2002, said in charge of the institute Maulana Inamullah Qazmi. Now the AIMPLB had decided to work towards encouraging setting up of similar courts all over India.