Will allow woman married outside the community to attend last rites of her parents: Parsi trust to Supreme Court

The trust added that it had agreed to the arrangement “only on compassionate grounds and in the facts and circumstances of this case and… shall not be taken as a condition precedent”. (representational image)

A Gujarat-based Parsi trust on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it will allow a Parsi woman and her sisters, who married outside the community, to attend the funeral prayers and related ceremonies in the Tower of Silence in the event of the death of their parents.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, representing the Bulsar Anjuman Parsi Trust, told a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, “It is agreed and declared between the petitioner and respondent (trust) that the respondent will, on compassionate grounds, permit the petitioner to attend the funeral prayers (Paidust ceremony) of her parents performed inside the prayer hall of the Bungli (bungalow) of the Tower of Silence complex (Doongerwadi) complex at Valsad.

“… the petitioner will also be entitled to attend the 4 days after death ceremonies of her parents performed inside the Prayer Hall of the Bungli (Bungalow) of the Towers of Silence (Doongenwadi) Complex at Vaksad, viz, the Bhoi ni Jkriya Ceremony, the Sarosh nu Patru Ceremony, the Uthamnu Ceremony and the Pachli Raat nu Uthamnu Ceremony.”

The trust was responding to the court’s suggestion for an amicable settlement to the demand of the Parsi woman, Goolrokh M Gupta, that she be allowed to attend the last rites of her parents in the event of their death. Gupta, who is married to a Hindu, had challenged the customary law — upheld by the Gujarat High Court in 2010 — that a Parsi woman marrying outside the community loses her religious rights in the Parsi community and, hence, loses the right to visit the Tower of Silence after her parents’ death to perform the last rites.

The tower is used for funeral purposes by adherents of the Zoroastrian faith, in which the traditional practice for disposal of the dead involves exposure of the corpse to the sun and vultures.

The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, said the statement of the Parsi trust “meets the present requirement of the petitioner (Gupta) and her sisters” and made it clear that the issues relating to Gupta’s constitutional rights will be adjudicated upon at a later stage on January 17.

The trust added that it had agreed to the arrangement “only on compassionate grounds and in the facts and circumstances of this case and… shall not be taken as a condition precedent”.

The bench had earlier told Subramanium to consult the trust and apprise it on December 14 if Gupta could be allowed to enter the Tower of Silence, remarking that the issue appeared to be limited to the trust in question. The CJI told Subramanium, “You must tell the trustees… rigidity is not always a correct principle of understanding a concept of religion. Less rigidity attracts more…”

On October 9, the apex court had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the legal question whether a Parsi woman loses her religious identity after marrying a man belonging to a different religion.