In a significant ruling, the Madras high court on Friday said that personal laws cannot be declared void, since they do not come under the ambit of the Constitution.
The ruling came when a division bench comprising Justice R Jayasimha Babu and Justice G Padmanabhan dismissed a petition by a Muslim divorcee Parveen Akhtar, who sought to declare the Talaq-ul-biddat, a form of divorce followed by the Muslim community, 'void and unconstitutional'.
The petitioner contended that the Koran did not provide for Talaq-ul-biddat, under which one can seek divorce by pronouncing talaq in the presence of two witnesses.
Additional Solicitor General B G Gopalan, appearing on the behalf of the Union ministry of law and justice, one of the respondents, argued that Section two of the Muslim Personal Law [Shariat] Application Act of 1937 does not come under the purview of the Constitution.
Some Muslim organisations that impleaded themselves in the case also told the court not to interfere in personal laws.