LUCKNOW: The All-India Shia Personal Law Board has come out with a model `nikahnama' that aims to arbitrate in marital disputes so that couples do not have to approach the court of law.

The `nikahnama' (code of marriage) would have provisions to settle marital disputes by means of arbitration by Shia community members, AISPLB chairman Mirza Mohammad Athar told a Press conference here on Tuesday.

``A `nikah' is a contract and both parties (husband and wife) have the right to incorporate their conditions in it so that disputes arising from it can be resolved,'' he said.

He said couples would not have to go to courts to resolve matrimonial disputes and even if the matter did go to the courts, ``the `nikahnama' would also be helpful to the courts in reaching a decision... The old `nikahanama' is outdated and needed to change with the changing times''.

The new code would be sent to the highest Shia cleric Ayatollah Al-Sistani of Nazaf in Iraq for approval and then to legal experts in the country before being finalised, he said.

Issues like maintenance of the wife after divorce had also been addressed in the `nikahnama', he said adding that the board was also planning a census of Shias in the country to ascertain their exact population.

He expressed the hope that the code would be tabled at the board's annual general meeting in Mumbai on November 26.

He said the board would formulate a national policy for Shias so that they could have a distinct identity and serve the country while remaining loyal to their religion.- PTI

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