The Supreme Court’s Decision To Give Imams Compensation Is A Constitutional Breach

The Supreme Court’s judgment in All India Imam Organisation and v. Union of India and ors. [May 1993] was passed in violation of the constitution and had created a harmful precedent, according to the Central Information Commission.

It should be noted that the Supreme Court ordered the State Waqf Boards to pay Imams in mosques under their management in the All India Imam Organisation case (supra).

During a hearing on an RTI request submitted by RTI activist Subhash Agrawal on November 25, Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar made this observation about the wages provided to imams by the Delhi government and the Delhi Waqf Board. The Delhi Waqf Board has not responded to the activist’s application in a suitable manner.

The panel noted in its ruling that the SC’s order had gone against constitutional clauses that forbid using tax dollars to support a particular faith.

In its order, the commission also noted that the practice of providing special benefits to the Muslim community prior to 1947 was a significant factor in fostering pan-Islamic and fissiparous tendencies in a subset of Muslims, which ultimately contributed to the division of the country.

Giving salaries to Imams and others only in mosques, according to the order, amounts to not only betraying the Hindu community and adherents of other non-Muslim Minority religions but also encouraging pan-Islamist tendencies among some Indian Muslims who are already displaying them.

Regarding the issue of the Delhi Waqf Board, the commission stated in its order that the Board receives an annual grant from the Delhi Government of Rs. 62 crores, but its own monthly income from independent sources is only about Rs. 30 lakhs.

Finally, the Commission instructed its registry to send a copy of the order to the Union Law Minister with the Commission’s recommendation for appropriate action to ensure enforcement of Articles 25 to 28 of the Constitution of India in letter and spirit and to maintain parity among all Indian religions in terms of payment of monthly stipends for priests of diaconal and other faiths. The Commission found this matter to be of extreme importance for the unity and integrity of the nation as well as interfaith harmony.

The Delhi Waqf Board has also been ordered by the Commission to pay RTI activist Subhash Agrawal compensation for the time and resources he expended looking for a response to his request.

News Mania Desk