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Petition challenging ban on women's entry into Haji Ali sanctum maintainable: Bombay High Court

Two women who challenged the ban imposed on the entry of women inside the inner sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah crossed the first hurdle on Tuesday. The Bombay high court (HC) accepted that the petition filed by Noorjehan Niaz was maintainable and can be heard at the admission stage on merits.

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Two women who challenged the ban imposed on the entry of women inside the inner sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah crossed the first hurdle on Tuesday. The Bombay high court (HC) accepted that the petition filed by Noorjehan Niaz was maintainable and can be heard at the admission stage on merits.

A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and A R Joshi posted the matter for final hearing on June 22. An earlier bench of the high court had posed several questions to the petitioners, asking them to satisfy the court before it could take up the petition for hearing.

What questions had the earlier bench posed?
The questions the earlier bench posed were, "Should women be allowed in the inner sanctum of a dargah as a matter of their legal right? Is visiting the dargah an essential and integral part of the religion? Can a high court interfere in the daily affairs of a dargah or limit itself to secular matters?"

Advocate Raju Moray, appearing for the petitioners, said "The court has accepted that the petition is maintainable and needs further hearing."

On what grounds had the trust opposed the petition?
The trust managing the dargah has opposed the petition challenging the ban on the ground that it is protecting women from uncomfortable situations. The petition filed by Niaz, states that gender justice is inherent in the Quran and the decision contravenes the Hadiths, which proves that there is no prohibition on women visiting graves.

How did the petition oppose this?
It also says that restriction "emanates from a very conservative and extremist Salafi ideology" which is against women's freedom and equality. "If such arbitrary actions of the trust are not restrained, it is not inconceivable that in the future, there may be an order banning the entry of women in the dargah complex and non-Muslims wholly."

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