• 10 Feb 2016
• Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
• Ayesha Arvind ayesha.arvind@hindustantimes.com
MUMBAI: Women have an “unfettered” right to worship and no trust or organisation must attempt to infringe upon such a right, the Maharashtra government announced on Tuesday.
The statement was made by Maharashtra advocate general Shrihari Aney before the Bombay high court (HC) during a hearing on a plea challenging the ban on women from entering the innermost shrine or the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah.
During a previous hearing, a bench of justice VM Kanade and justice Revati Mohite-Dere had directed the state to make its stand on the ban clear.
Appearing for the state, Aney called the ban imposed by the dargah’s trustees as “unconstitutional” and cautioned the trustees against attempting to regulate religious laws and customs as per their own interpretations.