New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Friday barred women’s entry in Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah until the next hearing on October 17 when it reopens after a week-long recess.
The Bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A M Khanwilkar decided to defer a decision after the dargah management assured to come out with a “progressive stand within two weeks.
The Haji Ali Trust, managing the shrine, has come in appeal against the Bombay High Court order on August 26, removing the ban imposed on women’s entry into the shrine’s inner sanctum but staying operation of the verdict to let the trust approach the Apex Court.
In a brief order, the Supreme Court says the High Court’s interim order staying operation of its own verdict would continue till October 17 when the matter would come up for hearing. The Chief Justice told the trust lawyer that it should better sort out the matter in adopting two yardsticks of allowing men but not women inside the inner sanctum of the shrine.
Women were allowed inside until 2011 when the trust clamped ban on their entry. Noorjehan Fiaz and Zakia Soman, founders of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), had petitioned the Bombay High Court against the ban, calling it unconstitutional as it violated their right to freedom of religion as enshrined in Article 25. Their PIL stated that gender justice is inherent in the Quran and there is no prohibition on women visiting graves. Prior to 2011, the dargah did not discriminate against women and allowed free entry to the people across religions. On March 2011, the dargah”s board of trustees imposed a ban on women”s entry, calling their entry in the inner sanctum as a “grievous sin.”
