Cannot ban all 'Sharia courts' that have legal existence: Haji Ali petitioner

After the Madras high Court put an end to the menace of illegal 'Sharia courts' functioning from various mosques across Tamil Nadu, the Haji Ali petitioner Noorjehan Safia Niaz on Tuesday cited a Supreme Court judgement which pronounced that one cannot ban all 'Sharia courts' that have a legal existence.

"There is a Supreme Court judgement that says that you cannot ban all the Sharia courts that exist and have a legal existence. The Supreme Court has also said that any decision taken by the Sharia court will not be binding and they can be challenged in the regular court of law. But the fact that they are legal, the Supreme Court has already passed the judgment few years back," Safia Niaz told ANI.

Directing the Tamil Nadu government to curb unauthorised 'Sharia' courts, the Madras High Court on Monday, declared all Sharia courts working out of mosques as illegal.

The High Court made it clear that religious places are meant to be used only for religious purposes.

The High Court bench comprising of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sundar also ordered the Tamil Nadu government to file a status report within four weeks regarding the same.