Legal experts across the board are hailing the Supreme Court’s ruling that said Shariat courts have no legal sanction, as progressive.
Senior SC lawyer Vikas Singh said Monday’s judgment was “very progressive” as it was in line with the concept of ‘uniform civil code’ which envisages covering all the personal laws into one unified set of a secular law that will be applicable to every citizen of India, irrespective of his/her religious community.
“The SC verdict is a move toward universal civil code. You cannot have different laws acting upon different communities. It goes against the very concept of equality if we consider the variety of communities existing in the country today,” Singh told HT.
Another advocate practicing at the SC, Apar Gupta, agreed with the verdict saying, “This verdict presents a good balance in law where an informal adjudication mechanism is not allowed to infringe on the fundamental rights of the citizen.”
“Any decision reached by such a body cannot be enforced by a court, so they are voluntary,” Gupta added.
Reacting to the verdict, historian S Irfan Habib said, “The court had said earlier too that Shariat courts are illegal. If they or anything violates the fundamental rights of the citizen, then you can’t call it legal. In that case, Shariat courts are illegal.”
“This decision will not affect the life of Muslims largely because these court verdicts existed already. People already know that they are not valid. Still they exist because a large number of people go to them,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“This decision will not affect the life of Muslims largely because these court verdicts existed already. People already know that they are not valid. Still they exist because a large number of people go to them,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}