In the last few months the city's Muslim-dominated areas have witnessed a virtual rash of offices opened by these self-appointed guardians of law - Qazi-ul-Quzzats (the supreme Islamic judges) and Raeesul-Quzzats (the head judges). Although Islamic laws allow only one chief judge in a city, there are at least 60 operating in Mumbai. Some of the more popular names include Farid Ahmed Khan, Jamil Akhtar Qasemi, Israr Kasemi and Mohammed Zakaria Qamar.

Sources said they mainly cater to a rich Arab clientele demanding a quick marriage and an equally fast divorce - sometimes within days of marriage. Yasmeen's story, which made headlines only a few weeks back, is a glaring example of such unscrupulous practices. Eighteen-year-old Yasmeen was married to three different Arabs in a span of 19 months. Two of her grooms were 50 and 70 years old. Yasmeen's second marriage was dissolved in 10 days and she was married for third time within 20 days in flagrant violation of Iddat - a mandatory gap of three months and 10 days that must separate a woman's divorce and her next marriage.

Two of these marriages were performed by Qazi Farid Ahmed Khan. In another case Rukhsana (16), a resident of Mumbra, was married to an Arab on April 23 this year and was divorced on April 26. Even decrees like absolute divorce (talaqe-moghallezza) are being arbitrarily issued by these qazis. Qazi Farid Ahmed Khan is apparently very popular among the Arabs as a majority of such marriages take place at his Bhendi Bazaar office. When contacted by this reporter, Khan did not deny marrying off Muslim girls to Arabs. He, however, said: ``Arabs can get any girl they want. At least nikah is a legal way. We are not involved in any unscrupulous practices. We marry off a girl only after making a lot of inquiries about the prospective grooms.'' He, however, was not able to explain how he married Yasmeen twice in three months. ``It is a different issue which should be seen from different perspective,''Farid Ahmed said.

Another qazi, Jamil Akhtar, claimed he laid more stress on marriages and tried to discourage divorces as far as possible. On probing further, he said his office on an average performed 50 marriages and sanctioned 15 divorces every month. As regards issuing absolute divorce and annulment of marriages, Akhtar claimed it was very rare. He puts the figure between three to five annulments and absolute divorces each month. Experts felt the statistics are appalling.

Meanwhile, the highest office of Sunni Muslims in the state, Idara-e-Shariah Maharashtra State, has confirmed receiving several complaints against such unscrupulous qazis in the city. The state mufti (an authority in jurisprudence), Ashraf Raza said: ``These Qazis are frauds. Forget absolute divorce, which only a mufti can give, they can't even annul a marriage.'' Raza said his office has been flooded with complaints against such qazis that he was contemplating action against these ``brokers of adultery.''Another organisation which has planned to launch an agitation against such qazis is Public Complaint Centre of Abdul Razak Maniyar. ``Even Indian government has accorded such sanctity to Muslim marriage that no less than a high court is allowed to deal with a talaq, while here any `merchant of Islam' can do it in a jiffy,'' Maniyar said. Maniyar has already dashed off letters to several bureaucrats in the central government and the state government including the police commissioner of Mumbai, R H Mendonca.