Madras high court: Shariat council not court, can't issue divorce certificates

CHENNAI: Shariat Councils are neither courts nor arbitrator of disputes and hence they cannot certify dissolution of marriage, Madras high court has said, adding that Muslim women must approach only family courts to seek divorce (khula).

"While it is open for a Muslim woman to exercise her inalienable rights to dissolve the marriage by khula recognised under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, it can be done only by approaching a family court," Justice C Saravanan said on Tuesday.

Such certificates cannot be issued by a self-declared body consisting of a few members of Jamath, the judge said, quashing a khula certificate issued to the wife of the petitioner by a Shariat Council in 2017.

In his petition, the man said extra-judicial decrees such as a fatwa or a khula certificate had no legal sanction and could not be enforced by any private persons or bodies.

However, opposing the plea, the Shariat Council contended that the Kerala high court had upheld such practice in a similar petition and, therefore, the plea was not maintainable at all.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Saravanan said: "The Kerala high court judgment has upheld only the Muslim woman's right for unilateral divorce through khula but has not endorsed the involvement of private bodies such as the Shariat Council.

"The private bodies such as the Shariat Council cannot pronounce or certify dissolution of marriage by khula. They are not courts or arbitrators of disputes," the judge said.

Only family courts are empowered under Section 7(1)(b) of the Family Courts Act, the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, and the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) to dissolve such marriages, the court said.