A Division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice Deepak Varma ordered on Friday that Muslim women who do not wish to be photographed need not vote.

Petitioner M. Ajmal Khan argued that the Election Commission should not photograph Muslim women, as it is violative of Article 25 of the Constitution. Khan contended that the Holy Quran stipulates that only family members can see the face of a Muslim woman.

Media reports indicate that Muslim clerics and organizations are in support of the Supreme Court's observation that Muslim women ought to shed their burqa to be photographed for electoral role verification. The Madras High Court in 2006 had dismissed Khan's petition filed after the EC started printing electoral rolls with photographs of voters.

Khan's team of counsels comprising P.N. Ramalingam, V.Balaji and Pravesh Thakur were countered by a battery of counsels including Additional Solicitor General Mohan Jain and the EC's standing counsel, and Kachwaha's outside counsel, Meenakshi  Arora. Senior Counsel Gopal Subramaniam appeared for the Union of India. Other counsels included Balaji Srinivasan, V. N. Subaramaniam, Madhusmita Bora, Prateek Jalan, Prabhat Kumar, Anil Katiyar, and B. Krishna Prasad.

The SC has posted the matter on February 22 for final disposal. 

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