1993 Supreme Court Judgment orders Payment of Salaries to Imams

02-20-2004, 10:04 PM

Namaskar Mitra,
Supreme Courts asks Central Government to pay Imam Salaries. AIR 1993 SUPREME
COURT 2086, K. RAMASWAMY AND R. M. SAHAI, JJ. Writ Petn. (C) No. 715 of 1990,
D/-13-5-1993.http://esamskriti.com/html/inside.as...=imam_salaries
Summary - Imams spend substantial time in the mosques. Their most important duty
is that of leading community prayer in a mosque the very purpose for which a
mosque is created. Imams, 'incharge of religious activities of the mosque' have
approached the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution for
enforcement of fundamental right against their exploitation by Wakf Boards.
They seek a direction to Central and State Wakf Boards to treat the petitioner
as employees of the Board and to pay them base wages to enable them to survive.
The Wakf Board says Imams are not their employees - do not have the resources to
pay them. The right to life enshrined in Art. 21 means right to live with human
dignity. In the above circumstances the Supreme Court issued the directions to
the Union of India and the Central Wakf Board to prepare a Scheme within a
period of six months in respect of different types of mosques.
I have not been able to obtain details of the scheme offered by the Govt and
subsequent action taken thereon. In case you know about it please write to
sanjeev (AT) esamskriti (DOT) com
Friends some thoughts. If India is a secular state and being secular means
separation of state from religion then why must the Courts direct the
Government to pay salaries to Imams? Some of you might argue that temple
priests in Tamil Nadu and perhaps states like Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh get
salaries from the state government so what is wrong in paying salaries to
Imams. There is a key difference. Temple collections go to state government
coffers unlike mosque collections, which go to the Wakf Board or are part of
the mosque funds. In a recent article titled "Nationalization of Hindu Temples"
Sandhya Jain wrote. " In 2002, Karnataka received Rs. 72 crores as revenue,
returned Rs. 10 crores for temple maintenance, and granted Rs. 50 crores for
madrasas and Rs. 10 crores for churches'. (Daily Pioneer, October 7,2003.)
See you at the site.
Share the Wealth, cheers om, sanjeev
www.esamskriti.com is for Those who are Passionate about IndiaTo subscribe mail
- exploreindia (AT) vsnl (DOT) net, to Unsubscribe write back.esamskriti has over 160
articles, 800 pictures & a Music GalleryLong Live Sanatan / Kshatriya Dharam.
Generate Positive Vibrations lifelong worldwide.