NEW DELHI, 29 March 2006 — The government yesterday assured the Supreme Court that it was looking into the allegation that existence of Islamic courts in the country was posing challenge to the Indian judicial system.

“We are looking into the matter. We have to collect information from all over the country,” Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam told a bench of judges Ruma Pal and Dalveer Bhandari. He sought time from the court to collect materials.

The court accepted the request and asked the petitioner, advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan, to serve a copy of his petition to the parties if he had not already done so.

In August 2005, the top court had sought responses from the government, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and others in connection with Madan’s petition, which sought directions to restrain the board from establishing a parallel Muslim judicial system or Nizam-e-Qaza.

In his petition, Madan said a woman named Imrana was allegedly raped by her father-in-law and the panchayat in her village passed a fatwa that asked her to treat her rapist as her husband.

Darul Uloom, Deoband, too declared that Imrana had become ineligible to live with her husband.

Madan contended that matters relating to Imrana’s marriage and its dissolution were covered by Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariah) Application Act of 1937.

He said a parallel Muslim judicial system was being introduced through the setting up of Dar-ul-Qaza or courts at various places in India, and that these had started functioning as courts of justice.

Gullible, uneducated Muslim citizens were being forced to obey and submit to these courts, Madan said.

He sought a direction that the activities of the AIMPLB and other similar organizations for establishing a Muslim judicial system and setting up Dar-ul-Qazas and Shariah courts be declared absolutely illegal and unconstitutional.

Madan also said that fatwas pronounced by various Islamic authorities be made unenforceable, and that the central and state governments be directed to disband the Dar-ul-Qazas. — Additional input from IANS.