Maharashtra government tells Bombay HC it’s in favour of women entering Haji Ali sanctum

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday informed the Bombay high court that it was in favour of allowing entry to women in the sanctum of Haji Ali dargah. The HC has reserved its judgment on the issue.

The court on February 3 asked the state government to express its opinion on the PIL challenging the decision of Haji Ali Trust to ban the entry of women in the inner sanctum of the historic dargah. Appearing before the bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite Dere, the AG said unless the

Dargah Board is able to prove that ban is part of their religious practice with reference to the Quran, women should be allowed to enter the inner sanctum of Haji Ali.

The Dargah Board said that the sanctum of the dargah houses the grave of a male saint and in Islam it is a sin for women to touch a male saint, and hence, women are barred from touching the tomb. They have also argued that the decision has been taken considering safety of women and to protect women from “uncomfortable situations” since the dargah is very crowded.

On the other hand, the petitioner’s lawyer Raju Moray contended that as per Haji Ali’s website, no one is buried inside the tomb. Hence, it is not a graveyard of a saint.

After hearing the arguments of the parties concerned, the division bench asked all the parties to submit their argume ts in writing in two weeks.