Bhardwaj

New Delhi, Aug. 17: The Centre today indicated it would support the petition seeking a ban on the so-called “parallel Muslim judicial system” in the country.

A day after the Supreme Court issued a notice, law minister H.R. Bhardwaj said the Indian Constitution recognised only one judiciary, headed by the Chief Justice of India, and none else.

“Constitution does not recognise any of these Islamic courts. There is no question of separate Islamic courts,” he said.

“Under the Constitution, there is only one judiciary ? the lower courts, the high courts and the Supreme Court ? and everyone is bound to obey their rulings.”

The Supreme Court had yesterday sought the reply of the Centre, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and seven state governments on the petition saying a parallel Muslim judicial system was delivering judgment even in criminal matters like the Imrana rape.

He said fatwas issued by Muslim bodies were an “internal matter” of the community. “If anything wrong is being done under the Shariat law, the community should address it. They should decide whether they would be governed by fatwas or the laws of the country,” the minister said.

At a news conference, Bhardwaj said the bill passed by the Rajya Sabha giving daughters and sons equal rights to ancestral property was a “revolutionary step to eliminate gender bias”.

But he rejected any move to extend such reforms to Muslim personal law which is guided only by the Shariat.

“The marriage and succession pertaining to Muslims will be governed by their personal law. We should not try to force any codification of these laws,” the minister said.

Bhardwaj said until the community was willing to “accept” a uniform civil code, the present personal law code will remain valid.

“Codification of personal laws can help a community but that community must first prepare itself for the change. When a community is not ready, we cannot force it on them. We will welcome if the minority community accepts uniform civil code but without the consent of the minority community, it will be difficult.

“We have changed the laws for the Hindus but the Muslims have to desire the change. Nobody can make a uniform civil code unless all communities agree.”

The Centre has to reply to the Supreme Court notice within eight weeks.