No religious institution can function as court, says Chhattisgarh High Court

No religious institution or private body can be permitted to assume the authority of a Court, said the Chhattisgarh High Court in a recent order after a woman challenged a self-styled Shariya court "order" stating that she had been granted divorce under Muslim personal law.“..this Court observes that religion may guide an individual's conscience and personal faith, but no religious institution or private body can be permitted to assume the authority of a Court established by law or to use religious belief as a means of determining or enforcing the legal status and rights of an individual. The rule of law and the constitutional framework remain paramount,” the court said in its order.The appellant, a 38-year-old Muslim woman from Raipur, had sought the quashing of the impugned order dated January 18, 2022, passed by the Idara- E-Shariya Islami Court, by which it had “passed the decision of giving Triple Talaq/Divorce to the petitioner”. She also challenged the very existence of the so-called Idara-E Shariya Islami Court.She argued that the existence of such a body was in violation of the Constitution, Fundamental Rights to Life & Liberty, & The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 {specifically Section 2 (c ) }, where absolutely no opportunity of hearing was afforded to the Petitioner/Muslim Women following the 'Shariyat Law' which is not applicable in India as provided by the Constitution of India.Informing the court that while criminal proceedings against her husband under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, provisions relating to cruelty were on, she was shocked to learn that the Idara- E-Shariya Islami Court had purported to exercise such authority and pass an order affecting her marital status. This, she informed the court, had happened despite her having already approached the competent authorities and set the machinery of law into motion.During the hearing, the counsel for the State submitted that the Indian constitutional and legal framework did not recognise any parallel judicial system based on religion.Informal bodies, alternatively styling themselves as "Sharia Courts," "Darul Qaza," or "Courts of Kazi, have absolutely zero statutory recognition, judicial authority, or power to adjudicate civil and matrimonial disputes.While the single-judge bench of Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad declared the January 18, 2022 order issued by the Idara-E-Shariya Islami Court without legal authority, it refrained from adjudicating on the constitutional validity of Talaq-e-Hasan, noting that the larger issue remained pending before the Supreme Court. Published - September 09, 2026 08:17 am IST