ABDUR RAHMAN Vs. SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed the present public interest litigation stated to be arising in respect of the manner in which the fourth respondent Makka Masjid Shariat Council was running the affairs and with the objective to ensure that other persons do not face a similar situation.

(2.) It is an admitted position that the petitioner himself had approached the fourth respondent on account of a matrimonial dispute. There is controversy as to what transpired therein, as there are allegations and counter allegations in this behalf. But, we are not required to go into that issue as that would be a matter to be examined by an appropriate Court.

(3.) The substantive allegation is that the fourth respondent seeks to function in the campus of the Makka Masjid with the fifth respondent as its General Secretary. It is the allegation of the petitioner that the fifth respondent and some advocates and other persons have jointly been using the mosque premises and sought to create an impression in the mind of the Muslim community that the fourth respondent is an organisation which is carrying on judicial function as per Islamic Shariat Law and proclaiming it as an alternative to the judicial system. The persons from the community are encouraged to approach the forum by sending "summon" and also phone calls made to the opposite party and then, they are compelled to appear under an alleged religious edict. The fourth respondent forum is, thus, being alleged to be a Kangaroo Court and in that process, it is alleged that even the petitioner and his family members were misled. The culmination of the proceedings is stated to be in the form of an order akin to a judicial forum and those documents are then misused for other purposes.