CHENNAI: Reiterating its earlier stand that the Makka Masjid Shariat Council located at the mosque on Anna Salai and other places can merely provide conciliation service to its members, the first bench of the Madras High Court has made it clear that the council cannot be allowed to function in a manner resembling a judicial forum. It has no legal sanctity, the court said.
“We are unable to agree with the submission that the council merely provides conciliation service. If it is so, it would not have troubled us. What is our concern is the manner in which it is portrayed before the public, which does not give an impression as if it is only a conciliation proceeding and an endeavour to resolve family disputes amicably,” the bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice M Sundar said on Thursday.
The bench was dismissing a PIL by Abdur Rahman, who alleged that hundreds of marriages are dissolved deceptively and property issues are settled to the whims and fancies of religious leaders with the help of lawyers, in a court like setup inside the premises of mosques, particularly in the Makka Masjid in Chennai.
Seeking action against such “Kangaroo courts”, his senior counsel A Sirajuddin claimed that people heading such courts followed neither the Shariat law nor the regular ones. In view of the affidavit filed by police stating that the council has already stopped functioning, the bench dismissed the PIL after noting that no further directions are necessary.