India's Supreme Court has ruled Sharia courts and fatwas have no legal power over the country's Muslims.
The top court said Monday Islamic judges who interpret religious law could only rule when individuals submitted voluntarily to them, but the judges' decisions, or fatwas, are not legally binding.
The Supreme Court said no religion is allowed to curb anyone's fundamental rights.
The court's ruling was given on a petition to disband Sharia courts.
A lawyer filed the petition in 2005, citing the case of a woman who was ordered by a Sharia court to leave her husband and children to live with her father-in-law who had allegedly raped her.