Summary:
Darul Ifta (fatwa council) or muftis are jurists qualified to give authoritative opinion as per Shariat law known as fatwas." It has said that "only an authorized and a well-qualified person is competent to issue fatwa i.e. "In Uttarakhand all religious bodies, the statutory panchayats, and any other groups of people are banned from issuing fatwas, since they infringe upon statutory rights, fundamental rights, dignity, status, honour and obligation of individuals," the HC had said.Challenging the HC order, the petitioner contended that the order banning issuance of 'fatwa' by religious outfits was illegal and unsustainable as the issue had already been adjudicated by the apex court in 2014 and legality of 'fatwa' upheld. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Uttarakhand high court 's direction barring all religious outfits from issuing 'fatwas' and issued notice to the state government on a plea challenging the validity of its order.Agreeing to hear the plea of Muslim organization Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind which challenged the HC's August 30 order, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta sought response from the state government.The high court, while declaring 'fatwas' unconstitutional and illegal, had passed the order after taking cognizance of a media report of a panchayat issuing ' fatwa ' for banishing a rape survivor's family from a village in Roorkee district..