New Delhi, Jan. 3: The Centre has been accused of lifting a paragraph from the affidavit of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board — mistake and all — for its own affidavit defending Shariat (Islamic law) courts.

Advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of such courts and seeking their dissolution. The Centre, the personal law board, several states and the Islamic seminary Dar-ul Uloom were asked to respond to it.

In his rejoinder today, Madan has told the court that the affidavit filed by the Union law ministry had incorporated “everything’’ submitted by the board to defend the right to establish Shariat courts. The government had not only borrowed ideas from the board’s affidavit, he said, but also the language and the errors.

In one paragraph in its affidavit, the board had given the total number of lower darul qazas (Islamic courts) in the country as 31 by mistake, Madan said. The list submitted by the board with the affidavit had mentioned 53 darul qazas, he added.

The same paragraph appeared in the affidavit submitted by the Centre, he said. Madan described this as appeasement of Muslim clerics by the government.

The law ministry’s affidavit had defended the setting up of Shariat courts, saying it was the fundamental right of every religious denomination to “manage its own affairs in matter of religion”.

The darul qazas are protected under the Fundamental Rights enshrined in Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution, the ministry said, seeking dismissal of Madan’s petition.

“Freedom guaranteed by Article 26 to every religious denomination or every section thereof to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes and to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion would include the freedom to establish darul-qaza/nizam-ul qaza to settle disputes between two persons professing Islam, according to Sharia,’’ the affidavit said.

It, however, refuted the charge that such forums meant a parallel judicial system and described them as an alternative dispute redressal forum.

Both the Centre and the board had contended that darul qaza was a conciliatory forum to settle civil disputes outside courts expeditiously in an amicable and inexpensive manner and there was no bar on Muslims from going to court, Madan said.

The two affidavits also said the orders or fatwas were advisory in nature.

Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bengal and Delhi are the states asked to respond to Madan’s petition. Among the Islamic courts that he wants dissolved are those in Asansol and Purulia.

The Centre admitted that besides the board, several other Muslim bodies had also set up darul qazas in various parts of the country. Imarat-i-Sharia and Imaraa-e-Sharia Phulwari Sharief, Patna, had set up darul qazas in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bengal.