The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has moved the Supreme Court against a plea seeking laying down of “gender and religion neutral” uniform grounds to award maintenance and alimony in matrimonial disputes as per international conventions and Constitution.
The Board has opposed the plea filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay which also seeks directions to the government to take appropriate steps to remove the prevailing anomalies in the grounds of maintenance and alimony, and make them uniform for all citizens without discrimination.
“The applicant would like to submit that the expression and ‘Custom and Usage’ in Article 13 of the Constitution does not include faith of a religious denomination embedded in personal laws,” the
All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) plea said.
“The constituent assembly was aware of the distinction between ‘personal law’ and the ‘Custom and Usage’ and chose advisedly to exclude personal law and include Custom and Usage in Article 13 of the Constitution,” it said while seeking impleadment in the petition filed by Upadhyay.
The AIMPLB opposed Upadhyay’s plea on the basis that personal laws cannot be tested on the anvil of Articles 14, 15, 21 and 44 of the Constitution.