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The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Rajasthan High Court’s order terming as illegal the Santhara (fast unto death) ritual followed by the Jain community.
A Bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and judge Amitava Roy said: “Issue notice. Leave granted,” while staying the high court order and issuing notices to the Centre, the state of Rajasthan and others. The Bench was hearing a batch of petitions filed by various religious bodies of Jain community members against the high court order against Santhara.
The high court verdict
Earlier in August, the Rajasthan High Court had made Santhara punishable under Section 306 and 309 IPC (abetment to suicide). “Santhara or fast unto death is not an essential tenet of Jainism,” the court had said, adding it could not be termed humane and that it was in violation of basic human rights.
The case at a glance
The ban on the Jain ritual came after a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by human rights activist and advocate Nikhil Soni in the high court in 2006. The activist claimed the ritual was a social evil and should be considered suicide. The petitioner’s lawyer had said Santhara, or the ritual of giving up food and water, was in violation of the Right to Life. If euthanasia was not allowed, the practice of Sati was banned and suicide was illegal, Santhara could not be allowed, either.
Thousands of Jains had held a ‘silent march’ to protest the Rajasthan High Court order banning Santhara. Members of both Shwetambar and Digambar sects participated in marches held across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradhesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam and other states.
The ritual
The ancient ritual of Santhara, also called Sallekhana, consists of voluntary starvation to embrace death. The Swetambar (white sect) community, which practises the ritual, considers it the ultimate way to attain moksha (release from the cycle of rebirth), when one believes his or her life has served its purpose. Practised mostly by elders nearing death or having no desire to live any more, this ritual demands the practitioner to even give up drinking water; it is never advisable for young adults or children.
On average, 240 Jains practise sallekhana until death each year in India.
The centuries-old practice has been in the eye of a storm since 2006, when after the case of 93-year-old Keila Devi Hirawat from Jaipur, there was a debate in the international media on whether there was any place for such rituals in the modern world. Later, Soni and his lawyer Madhav Mishra had filed their PIL in the Rajasthan High Court.
Concerns raised in the petition
One of the concerns raised in the petition was that it was old people who usually resorted to Santhara, and allowing an elderly person to suffer without medical assistance, food or water was inhuman.
Jains, however, argued it was a voluntary act of rational thinking and marked the beginning of a journey for understanding the inherently painful and flawed nature of earthly existence. For millions of Jains in India, the PIL was a direct violation of the Indian Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom.
The Constitutional provision
While opponents of Santhara equate the practice with suicide and argue it is a fundamental breach of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which guarantees the right to life, supporters say the right to life includes a corresponding right not to live.
The community’s lawyers argue that Santhara has been a spiritual practice since times immemorial and the courts must not interfere with it.
