Indian Supreme Court Says Civil Service Rules Trump Muslim Personal Law

According to today's New Delhi Pioneer, a two-judge panel of the Supreme Court of India last week held that civil service rules of the state of Rajasthan barring any state employee from taking a second wife without permission of the state takes precedence over the Muslim Personal Law that allows Muslim men to have a second wife. Liyakat Ali, a former constable in the Rajasthan Police, was fired in 1986 and has been in litigation over the civil service ban ever since. Muslim leaders say the Supreme Court's ruling interferes with the religious rights of the Muslim community.