Supreme Court On Muslim Property: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against giving Muslim women half the share in ancestral property as compared to men. A woman named Bushra Ali approached the Supreme Court after not getting relief from the Kerala High Court. The court has issued notice on the petition.
It has been told in the petition that in 1981, Bushra’s father died without dividing the property. He applied for family partition in the court of Kozhikode, Kerala. Since the case was related to those who follow the Muslim religion, the provisions of Muslim Personal Law were applied under Section 2 of the Shariat Act, 1937. On this basis, Bushra got only half the share compared to the male members of her family. While the share of each male in the property was kept at 14/152, Bushra got 7/152.
Which act was challenged?
Bushra challenged this in the Kerala High Court. He filed 2 separate petitions. One of these was an appeal against the lower court’s decision on partition of property, while the other petition is a writ petition. Section 2 of the Shariat Act has been challenged in this writ petition. They have not got relief in the first petition i.e. the appeal related to partition. His petition against this was heard by the Supreme Court today. A bench of Justices Krishna Murari and Sanjay Karol issued the notice today after a brief hearing.
Bushra Ali’s writ petition challenging Section 2 of the Shariat Act is still pending in the Kerala High Court, but her lawyer Bijo Mathew Joy expressed hope that the petition would be transferred to the Supreme Court soon. Talking to ABP, he told that a similar petition is pending in the Supreme Court since 2016. Therefore, it seems that the court would like to hear his petition along with it.
Supreme Court is already hearing
The petition filed in the year 2016 belongs to an organization named ‘Quran Sunnat Society’. It has also been said in that petition that the system of succession in family property under the Shariat Act discriminates against women. This is a violation of the fundamental rights given to every citizen under the constitution.
The constitution gives right to equality and non-discrimination on the basis of gender, gives right to life with dignity. In such a situation, the discrimination against women in the Shariat Act in the matter of distribution of property cannot be allowed to continue. In the case, the Supreme Court has issued notices to 14 defendants including the Central Government, Kerala Government in 2016 itself. There is a possibility of further hearing on this on May 9.
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