The Times Of India
JAIPUR:10.08.2015
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The court called the practice punishable under section 309 of the IPC as an attempt to commit suicide. |
The Rajasthan High Court on Monday declared the practice of 'Santhara' or 'Sullekhana' within the Jain community as illegal. Santhara means a fast unto death. A person after taking a vow of 'Santhara' stops eating and even drinking water and awaits death.
The court called the practice punishable under section 309 of the IPC as an attempt to commit suicide. The court also ordered support to Santhara by any person punishable as abetment under section 306 of the IPC.
The centuries-old practice has been in the news since 2006 when 93-year-old Keila Devi Hirawat from Jaipur performed Santhara, triggering a debate in the world media whether such a practice is out of place in the modern era.
Jain saints argue that Santhara is a voluntary act carried out rationally and cannot be considered suicide. They say it is something one does with full knowledge and intent, unlike suicide which is typically an emotional and impulsive act.
The court of chief justice Sunil Ambwani and justice VS Siradhana, issuing the order on a PIL filed by a human rights activist Nikhil Soni, said, "The state shall stop and abolish the practice of Santhara in the Jain religion in any form. Any complaint made in this regard shall be registered as a criminal case and investigated by the police in the light of the recognition of law in the Constitution of India and in accordance with section 309 (attempt to suicide) and section 306 (abetment)."
The petitioner had argued the Constitution guarantees the right to life and protects life.
"The right to freedom of religion under Article 25 is subject to public order, morality and health. A practice, however ancient, cannot be allowed to violate the right to life of an individual," the petitioner argued.
The court said the respondents had failed to establish Santhara as an essential religious practice without which the following of Jain religion would not be possible.
"There is no evidence or material to show that Santhara has been practiced by persons professing Jain religion even prior to or after the promulgation of the Constitution. The over riding and governing principle of public orders, morality and health conditions the right to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion," the court said.
Soni and his lawyer Madhav Mishra had filed the PIL claiming Santhara should be considered suicide under the law. One of the concerns raised was that it is old people who usually resort to Santhara, and that allowing an elderly person to suffer without medical assistance, food and water is inhuman.
Times View on Santhara
Whether Santhara should be equated with suicide is debatable. But even if one accepts the court's view on the issue, this newspaper has consistently argued that the attempt to suicide should be decriminalised. It is, after all, a strange situation where the 'crime' is punishable only when it fails, since success would put the accused beyond the reach of the law. The Supreme Court in 2011 urged the government to decriminalise attempt to suicide. The Law Commission as early as 1971 had called for repeal of Section 309 of the IPC, which deals with this 'crime'. It is time the legislature acted on these repeated suggestions.