The Haji Ali shrine Dargah Trust, Mumbai told the Supreme Court on Monday that women will be granted equal access to the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine. The Trust has sought four weeks to make necessary infrastructural changes.
Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the trust, said an additional affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Dargah trust saying it is willing to allow women inside the shrine.
A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao granted time to the trust and disposed off its appeal against the Bombay High Court order asking it to give equal access to women also.
On August 26, the Bombay High Court lifted a ban imposed on women from entering the inner sanctum of Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. Noorjehan Fiaz and Zakia Soman, founders of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), had petitioned the Bombay High Court against the ban, calling it unconstitutional.
The 2011 ban violates the women’s right to freedom of religion enshrined in Article 25 of the constitution. The PIL stated that gender justice is inherent in the Quran and there is no prohibition on women visiting graves.
