Meerut: The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha on Thursday said it had established the “first Hindu court” here in reaction to a Muslim body’s plan to open “Shariat courts” in all districts.
National vice president Ashok Sharma of the Mahasabha said the “Hindu court” was established on August 15, the Independence Day, with Aligarh resident Pooja Shakun Pandey as its first judge.
He said the “Hindu courts” would resolve family and other civil disputes amongst Hindus through amicable settlements.
Sharma said the “court” has been established as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath have continuously ignored the issue of “Shariat courts”. Darul Qazas, which are settlement centres to help negotiate civil issues are often mistranslated as “Shariat courts”. They are set up by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, a constitutional body. The Darul Qazas have constitutional sanction and the ministry of law and even high courts have emphasised the need for an arbitration centres to resolve small disputes. They are similar to Lok Adalats, where disputes/cases that are pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation state can be settled amicably.
However, the “court” set up by the Mahasabha does not have any constitutional sanction.
Sharma claimed that he had written to the PM and Adityanath demanding the closure of Darul Qazas, “as India can have only one Constitution and a single judicial system”. From this statement, it is apparent that Sharma is unaware that Darul Qazas are not a separate judicial system, but an alternative mechanism to settle dispute. Orders passed by Darul Qazas are not legally binding.
As the Mahasabha did not not get any reply to the letters, it had decided to open the “first Hindu court” on August 15, he said.
Sharma said the Mahasabha would set up five more “Hindu courts” at Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura, Firozabad and Shikohabad on November 15, the day Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was hanged.
He said the organisation planned to establish altogether 15 “Hindu courts” in the country at the earliest.
Pooja Shakun Pandey, nominated as the first judge of the “Hindu court” said her “court” did not require any statutory approval just like the “Shariat courts”, which are running as per the Shariat laws without any legal approval.
Darul Qazas
Writing for The Wire in July this year, A. Faizur Rahman had noted that Darul Qazas are not part of the state’s corpus juri.
“Although the Supreme Court’s July 2014 verdict in the Vishwa Lochan Madan case did not delegitimise Darul Qazas, it made it clear that as Darul Qazas were not part of the corpus juris of the state, fatwas issued by them – or for that matter any person or religious body – do not amount to an adjudication of dispute by an authority under a judicial system sanctioned by law. Therefore, a qazi or mufti has no power to impose his fatwa on anyone and any attempt to do so would be illegal and actionable.”
(With PTI inputs)