LUCKNOW: Admitting a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the constitution of Hindu courts on the lines of Islamic Sharia courts, the Allahabad High Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to clarify its stand over the issue on the next date of hearing.
Petitioner Ankit Singh had sought intervention of the High Court against the constitution of 'Hindu courts' in several districts of western Uttar Pradesh.
While Attorney General Manish Goel appeared for the government, the bench comprising Chief Justice DB Bhosale and Justice Yashwant Varma asked Singh to implead the Meerut district magistrate and Puja Shakun Pandey, the first “judge” of the 'Hindu court'.
The bench issued a notice seeking their responses and fixed September 11 as the next date of hearing.
Notably, the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha had set up the first Hindu court on the lines of Sharia system on Independence Day. A ceremony was held at the Hindu Mahasabha party office in Meerut in which a “judge” was also appointed to settle matrimonial affairs within the Hindu community. Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha national secretary Pooja Shakun Pandey was appointed as the judge.
Singh filed his PIL on the basis of newspaper reports which claimed that locals in western UP have decided to constitute 'Hindu courts' in every district on the lines of the Sharia system.
As per the reports, the Mahasabha came up with the idea of setting up “Hindu courts” as it believes that the government, both in the state and the Centre, failed to implement the laws needed for quick disposal of pending cases piling up in the regular courts. These “Hindu courts”, according to them, could resolve cases and disputes involving Hindus.