Vastanvi's battle for Darul Uloom reaches Supreme Court

New Delhi - 02 August 2011: The row between Darul Uloom Deoband and Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi, the former rector of the seminary, is not over yet. If the recent developments have any indication then the actual fight for the much coveted post of rector of Darul Uloom will start now in the Supreme Court, outside the confines of India's most prestigious Islamic seminary.

In a significant move, Darul Uloom on Monday moved a caveat- which is essentially a precautionary notice- before the Supreme Court in case Vastanvi's supporters approach the SC challenging its July 24 decision to sack him. In that notice, the institution has requested the Apex court to listen to Darul Uloom's version of the case, before giving any order or possible stay on the institution's decision sacking Vastanvi.

According to legal experts, caveat is a legal provision, which an applicant takes recourse to, in an already decided matter, when s/he apprehends that the other side might approach higher courts and take a stay on that decision.

Darul Uloom's Shura (supreme council) had sacked Vastanvi on July 24, after his controversial statement praising Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The fact that Darul Uloom felt the need to become legally active to pre-empt any legal move challenging its decision to sack Vastanvi, shows that there are possibilities that this can happen in the near future.

When TwoCircles.net asked Darul Uloom's new Vice-Chancellor, Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani, about the reasons for moving a caveat in the Apex Court, he preferred not to comment on the matter.

"I don't want to comment on the issue because I don't handle the legal issues of Darul Uloom," Nomani told TCN over phone.

The institution's move becomes important also because Vastanvi himself had said that even though he didn't agree with the institution's decision, he won't legally challenge it. But sources in Darul Uloom told TCN that the seminary doesn't want to take any risk because there were reports that Vastanvi's supporters will approach courts against Darul Uloom's order.

source: TwoCircles.net