NEW DELHI: For Goolrakh M Gupta, a Parsi, good news finally came from the Supreme Court on Thursday as the Anjuman Trust in Valsad allowed her to enter the Zoroastrian Fire Temple after marrying outside the community.
The statement by the trust came after the apex court urged the Parsi community to take a more progressive stance on the issue. Appearing for the trust, senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam told a constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that it has no issues if the petitioner enters the Tower of Silence. “We got it from the high priest, not the trust members. The high priest agreed to let the petitioner attend all death ceremonies and also offer prayers,” Subramaniam said.
“This meets the present and immediate requirement,” the bench said. The Tower of Silence is used for funerals by adherents of the Zoroastrian faith, in which the traditional practice for disposal of the dead involves exposing the corpse to the elements and vultures.
Goolrakh had moved the court against the Gujarat High Court order that affirmed the trust’s decision not to let Parsi women enter the Fire Temple if they married into other religions. The high court had upheld the view that even though Goolrokh married under the Special Marriage Act, she ceased to be a Parsi. The matter was referred to the apex court’s Constitution Bench as it involved the fundamental right to practice any religion.