New Delhi, Oct 25 (Reporter) The Union Government informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that the decision to extend the Indian Succession Act, 1925, to Muslims who have renounced their faith lies solely within the domain of Parliament. The clarification was made before a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra during a hearing on a petition by Safiya PM, a Kerala-based woman who sought the application of the 1925 Act, rather than Muslim Personal Law, for matters of inheritance. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhatti, representing the Union, pointed to Section 58 of the Indian Succession Act, which expressly excludes Muslims from the law’s purview. “The petitioner, a Muslim by birth, seeks to be covered under the Indian Succession Act; however, this is not feasible under the current wording of the Act,” ASG Bhatti stated, emphasizing that only legislative intervention could alter this framework. Only parliament can decide on extending the Act to Non-Believing Muslims, said the counsel for the Union Government Petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Prashant Padmanabhan, submitted a fresh application challenging the constitutional validity of Section 58, arguing it prevents individuals who have renounced their faith from accessing the 1925 Act for inheritance matters. The bench acknowledged the arguments and directed the Union to submit a counter-affidavit. The Court had previously issued a notice in the petition in April. Safiya PM, also the General Secretary of the "Ex-Muslims of Kerala" organisation, contends that as a non-believer, she should be governed by secular inheritance laws. The petition coincides with another case involving Section 58, filed by the Khuran Sunnath Society, in which Safiya PM has intervened...////...