SC to hear plea of Parsi woman against discrimination after marrying man of another faith

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on May 29 a plea seeking a direction to Nagpur Parsi Panchayat that it must treat a Parsi woman equally with her male counterparts even after she marries a person of another faith.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said that it may pass an interim order after senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Dina Budhraja, a Parsi woman who married a Hindu man without changing her faith, sought a direction that she be allowed to attend the prayers at the Nagpur agiary on demise of her near and dear ones.

Budhraja was denied entry to an agiary (Zoroastrian fire temple) for her grandmother's funeral in 2024.

The CJI, at the outset, said that a nine-judge bench had recently reserved its verdict on a larger question related to alleged discrimination against women across religions including Sabarimala temple and asked Divan to wait for the outcome.

Divan, however, pressed for an interim relief in the instant case.

''This case of the rights of a Parsi woman vs Parsi man has been argued before us already,'' the CJI said and asked the counsel of the Nagpur Parsi Panchayat to take instructions for ''some interim arrangement'' in the instant case.

The bench listed the plea for hearing on Friday that is May 29.

On March 23, the bench had decided to examine a significant constitutional challenge involving gender discrimination within religious personal laws, questioning whether a Parsi woman can be stripped of her religious identity following the inter-faith marriage.

The top court issued notices to the Centre, Nagpur Parsi Panchayat, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Maharashtra government, and the Charity Commissioner on the plea filed by Budhraja.

The plea, filed through lawyer Rohit Anil Rathi, had sought ''a direction to strike down Rule 5(2) of the constitution of the Nagpur Parsi Panchayat being violative of the Constitution of India'' as it discriminates against women.

It also sought a declaration from Nagpur Parsi Panchayat that it ''must treat Parsi men and Parsi women equally and that a Parsi woman continues to be a Parsi even after she marries a man of another faith''.

It also sought a declaration that the petitioner and other similarly situated Parsi women are entitled to the same treatment as is given to Parsi men who marry a woman of another faith.

''During pendency of the instant petition, kindly permit the petitioner to regularly enter the Nagpur Agiary and offer her prayers and also permit the petitioner to attend the prayers at the Nagpur Agiary on demise of her near and dear ones as well as the periodic Muktad prayers of her near and dear ones,'' it said.

Earlier, Divan challenged the constitutional validity of Rule 5(2) of the Nagpur Parsi Panchayat's constitution.

The petition, filed under Article 32, said that the rule is discriminatory and violates Article 14 (equality before law), Article 21 (right to life and dignity), and Article 25 (freedom of religion) of the Constitution.

The Rule 5(2) of the constitution of the Nagpur Parsi Panchayat allegedly strips Parsi women of their religious identity and access to religious institutions such as the agiary (fire temple) upon marrying a non-Parsi.

The rule, though, does not apply the same sanctions to Parsi men who marry outside the community.

Divan highlighted that the issue is a recurring legal battle for the community.

He emphasised that the current plea specifically challenges the regulations governing the Nagpur agiary.

''We are issuing the notice. There is a similar plea with the important question of law,'' the CJI had said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)