Fatwas right or wrong?

Thats the question that has been posed to the Supreme Court of India. The issue ofcourse in reality really is whether religious courts can be allowed to function in a secular (sic) democracy like India.

This PIL is a result of all the public outrage (umm I am not sure if there was any public outrage...) the Imrana controversy.

The petition, filed by advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan, urged the court to adjudicate on several questions of law, including whether Article 25 (guaranteeing religious freedom) includes the right to administer justice based on faith. (How can it??)

Notices have been issued to - the Union government, all states and the Union Territories. The court also issued notices to three Muslim bodies - the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, the Dar-ul-Uloom and Muslims for Secular Democracy.

This is a public interest litigation worthy of its name ...I hope the court won't back off from giving a favourable judgement even though it burnt it fingers once before in a similar case (Shah Bano) earlier.