SC gives Haji Ali Dargah 4 weeks time to grant complete access to women

'We will grant access to women on par with men,' the Haji Ali Dargah trust told the top court.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday granted 4 weeks time to Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah Trust to make requisite infrastructural changes for granting access to women.

“We will grant access to women on par with men,” the Haji Ali Dargah trust told the top court while the case was being heard.

The Bombay High Court in August had lifted the ban imposed on women from entering the sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali Dargah, saying it contravenes fundamental rights and that the trust has no right to prohibit women’s entry into a public place of worship.

The court had ruled that that the ban imposed by the Dargah Trust, prohibiting women from entering the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah contravenes Articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution of India and that women should be permitted to enter the the sanctum sanctorum at par with men.

Under these Articles, a person has the fundamental right to practise any religion he or she wants. They prohibit discrimination on grounds of religion, gender and so on, and provide free practice and propagation of religion.

The bench allowed a PIL filed by two women, Zakia Soman and Noorjehan Niaz, from NGO Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, challenging the ban on women’s entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the dargah from 2012.

The court had stayed its order for six weeks following a plea by Haji Ali Dargah Trust, which wanted to challenge it in the Supreme Court.

(This story first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)