In Gohar Sultan v. Sheikh Anis Ahmad, the Supreme Court has turned the spotlight on a startling legislative vacuum: Section 3 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 grants a Muslim the statutory option to make a declaration to be governed by Shariat in specified personal matters, yet Section 4 rules — which prescribe the authority, form, and procedure for that declaration — remain unframed in key jurisdictions even after 87 years. The Court’s question is simple, but its implications are profound: can the State leave a statutory right on paper while withholding the machinery required to exercise it?
Gohar Sultan v. Sheikh Anis Ahmad
Citation: 2026 SCC OnLine SC 246
Bench: Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Augustine George Masih
Court: Supreme Court of India
The appeal arose from a dispute over the validity of a 1992 Will executed by a Muslim testatrix. The appellant argued that the testatrix intended to be governed by Muslim personal law. However, the Delhi High Court had held that because no formal declaration under Section 3 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 had been made, the Will had to be tested under the Indian Succession Act, 1925, with its stricter proof requirements. The appellant’s case before the Supreme Court was that such a declaration itself was practically impossible, because the rules under Section 4 — which are meant to prescribe the authority and procedure for making that declaration — had not been framed
The Court noted that without Section 4 rules, the Section 3 mechanism may become unworkable in practice. It therefore issued notice and sought responses from the Union of India and the State of Uttar Pradesh on why these rules had not been framed and what the current status was. Later reports indicate the Court expanded the inquiry by asking States/UTs to clarify the implementation position more broadly
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