SC plea challenges gender bias in Parsi interfaith marriages

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Nagpur Parsi panchayat’s response to a Parsi woman’s petition challenging the constitutional validity of a religious practice that excommunicated her for marrying a non-Parsi man. She called the custom sexist as the rule did not apply to Parsi men married to non-Parsi women.Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Dina Budhraja, told the Supreme Court that Article 5(2) of the Nagpur Parsi Assembly Constitution violated Articles 21, 21 and 25 of the Constitution as it discriminated against women as they were ostracized, deprived of religion and lost their identity for marrying a non-Parsi while Parsi men did not have such disability. Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi issued notices to the Nagpur Parsi Panchayat, the Union government and the Ministry of Minority Affairs and said it would review what interim relief can be provided to the petitioners.The 43-year-old petitioner said the discriminatory approach in Rules 5(2) and 5(3) is clear. “A Parsi man who marries a non-Parsi woman retains his identity and right to enter religious institutions, while the Parsi woman is deprived of both. This classification is based solely on sex and fails the test of reasonable classification under Article 14,” she said in the petition.Budhraja, who married a Hindu man in 2009 and has a son and a daughter, said she has not given up on her religion. “Although the applicant continues to profess and practice the Zoroastrian faith, the applicant is deemed to have ceased to be a Parsi under Rule 5(2) merely for marrying a Hindu man,” her petition said. “Several other Parsi Panchayats, including those of Delhi and Kolkata, do not agree with this discriminatory practice and treat men and women equally. Therefore, the practices followed by the Nagpur Parsi Panchayat are neither uniform nor essential to the Zoroastrian faith,” Budraja said in the petition.