The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the Centre’s response on a PIL claiming discrimination against Muslim women under the Muslim personal laws, wherein the share of women at the time of inheritance is half of that of their male counterparts.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice G. Rohini issued a notice to the Centre on the PIL seeking to declare the practice violative of the fundamental right to equality.
The PIL has been filed by NGO Sahara Kalyan Samiti, through counsel Raghav Awasthi and Shoumendu Mukherji, who sought equal inheritance rights for women and men under the Muslim personal laws.
‘Unequal’ distribution
The PIL states that the compendium of Islamic laws reveals that “a wife shall receive 1/8th of the property of her husband on his death if they have children. In case there are no children borne out of the marriage, she is entitled to 1/4th of the property. A daughter shall receive half of the share of a son...”
The PIL states: “Men and women are treated differently insofar as matters of inheritance are concerned within the ambit of the Muslim personal law... Equality is a basic feature of the Constitution...”
