HC seeks response on worship petition

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Monday told the committee of Mutawalli to allow Shia Muslim women from the Akhbari sect to offer prayers in the Ibadat Khana (house of worship) at Darulshifa in Hyderabad while directing them to file their counter explaining why they had not been allowing the women into the prayer room.

Justice Nagesh Bhimapaka gave the interim order during a hearing of a plea filed by Asma Fatima, a student, on behalf of Anjuman-e-Alavi Shia Imamia Ithna Ashari (Akhbari), a registered women's organisation.

She urged the court to declare that the decision of the committee to prevent women from offering prayers inside the Ibadat Khana was illegal and arbitrary and also contrary to the fundamental rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution under Articles 14 and 25.

"Our representations to the Wakf Board and officials have failed to get any response. Our complaints to the police too met the same fate," she said. The Wakf Board counsel told the court that the guidelines enshrined in the Quran would guide them in such matters.

The judge directed the committee to file its counter by December 26.