PIL In Madhya Pradesh High Court Seeks Ban On Jain Ritual Of ‘Fasting Unto Death’ For Minors
A PIL has been filed before the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking to ban the ritual of ‘Santhara’ for children below 18 years of age and persons of unsound mind.
For context, Santhara is a Jain ritual of voluntarily fasting unto death. As per this practice, a person gradually reduces his or her intake of food and water until death as a means of achieving spiritual purification and detachment from the world. The plea states that the practice involves a conscious decision to abstain from food and water which ultimately leads to death however it should be performed by an adult Jain individual who has a clear understanding of the practice and its implications.
The PIL was filed in response to the passing away of a 3-year-old girl child after her family allegedly forcibly initiated Santhara on her.
The division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Binod Kumar Dwivedi in its order observed, “On the basis of the allegations made in the writ petition, let the parents of the minor deceased girl be impleaded as respondents in order to confirm Annexure P-2. Petitioner is also directed to explain as to which is the Association who has granted Golden Book of World Records certificate of excellence to the parents of minor deceased girl.”
The court was hearing a plea moved by petitioner Pranshu Jain who is stated to be a social worker, challenging the inaction of the respondents on the brutal acts of family belonging to Jain community in Indore alleging it forced a 3-year-old girl to undergo Santhara due to which she passed away.
The respondents in the plea are Union of India represented through Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Legal Affairs, the state’s Chief Secretary, Chairman of National Human Rights Commission, state’s DGP, Divisional Commissioner of Indore, Police Commissioner of Indore and the District Collector.
The plea states that the process of Santhara as per its requirement needs consent of the person adopting it. It is alleged that the minor girl child was left in a room for starvation till death, despite the fact that she did not even know what process she was going through and why.
The plea claims that as per the rituals prevailing in the Jain Community, a person who is capable of understanding and giving his/her consent can only undergo the Santhara process and that the santhara process cannot be forcefully applied on any person without their consent.
The plea alleges that soon after the passing away of the minor girl, the parents and the family members approached the Golden book of World Records and applied for certification of youngest person to undergo the Santhara process. Thereafter, the certificate was also issued to the parents of the minor deceased girl, the plea claims.
The petitioner claimed that he had earlier approached the respondents to take action against the family members of the minor girl to put a stop to such cruel practices, but the respondents did not take any action.
Therefore, the petitioner prayed before the Court to issue direction to the respondents to ban the practice of Santhara for children aged below 18 years of age and persons of unsound mind and to take action against such persons who initiate the Santhara on minor children and persons with unsound mind.
Case Title: Pranshu Jain Vs Union Of India And Others, Writ Petition No. 17313 Of 2025
Counsel for Petitioner: Advocate Shubham Sharma
