The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it clear that it cannot direct doctors to perform genital mutilation of minor girls of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and questioned the “scientific justification”, if any, behind the procedure.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which was hearing a PIL plea challenging the practice, questioned the process saying there was hardly any rationale behind it as a girl child is forced to undergo it due to non-medical reasons.
“What is the scientific justification to direct doctors to perform this procedure,” the Bench, also comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, asked senior lawyer A.M. Singhvi, representing a Muslim group which supported the practice. It said asking doctors to perform this kind of procedure would also be violative of medical ethics.