Hyderabad High Court seeks Telangana, Andhra Pradesh's view on Arab marriages

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court, recently sought the stand of the Central and state governments of AP and TS in preventing the marriages of poor Muslim girls to elderly Arab Sheiks.

Justice S.V. Bhatt while dealing with a petition by Shaik Chand Basha of Prakasam district challenging the appointments of certain qazis in Prakasam district, pointed out that the qazis are playing a key role in these marriages and that there was a need to curb these illegalities by the qazis by state and central governments by enacting proper laws. The judge expressed his displeasure at the governments for not considering a suggestion made by a division bench of the High Court in 2006 for amending Section 2 of the Act 1880.

Mr Muqeeth Qureshi, a senior advocate of the Hyderabad High Court said that the marriages of poor Muslim girls to elderly Arab Sheiks are a scandal in the garb of marriage under the Sharia. He reminds us that the division bench headed by Justice Bilal Nazki in the year 2006 held that Muslims have right to choose the Qazi of their choice instead of a government qazi during marriage.