Women will be granted access to the sanctum sanctorum of the popular Haji Ali shrine in Mumbai on par with men, the Dargah Trust told the Supreme Court in New Delhi on Monday (Oct 24) and sought four weeks to make the requisite infrastructural changes.
A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao granted time to the trust and disposed of its appeal against the Bombay High Court order asking it to give equal access to women also.
Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the trust, said that an additional affidavit had been filed on behalf of the Dargah trust saying it was willing to allow women inside the shrine.
The apex court, on October 17, had extended the stay granted by Bombay High Court to facilitate an appeal+ against its decision to lift the ban on entry of women near the sanctum sanctorum of the Dargah in Mumbai.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had expressed hope that the Trust, which had challenged the high court judgement, ‘will take a stand which is progressive’.
