Women can go up to Haji Ali’s sanctum sanctorum

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, October 24

Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah Trust today assured the Supreme Court that women would be allowed near the shrine’s sanctum sanctorum within four weeks, ending the practice of letting only men into the 15th century mosque.

The trust had come to the SC challenging the Bombay High Court’s August 26 judgment directing the mosque to allow access to women as well.

However, when the appeal came up for hearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur today, trust’s senior counsel Gopal Subramanium said the mosque had decided to honour the HC verdict.

“The trustees believe in complete equality of men and women as envisaged in Islam and to give effect to the said principle of equality have decided that both men and women shall be allowed to enter the room which houses the sanctum sanctorum of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari right up to the sanctum. However, neither men nor women shall be allowed to touch the sanctum sanctorum,” the mosque authorities said in a fresh affidavit. Subramanium said the trust was seeking time to facilitate women’s entry as some structural changes required to be made. Granting time, the apex court said the implementation of the assurance would be ensured by the HC. The HC had delivered the judgment on a PIL pleading the ban amounted to violation of Articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution.