3-judge bench to hear case of Parsi woman married to Hindu

Gujarat High Court on Friday passed an order stating that a three-judge bench will hear the case of a Parsi woman who has been denied her fundamental right to worship at the agiyari because she is married to a non-Parsi.
Goolrokh Gupta, whose husband is a Hindu, had filed a petition in the high court seeking confirmation of her rights to visit and pray at Zoroastrian religious places.


According to the petition, the Parsi Anjuman Trust in Valsad had denied entry to the woman to agiyari and other Parsi religious places.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhaya observed that a three-judge bench will be constituted to hear this case and the question that will be considered will be: “Goolrokh is married to a Hindu without converting to Hinduism. So has she ceased to be a Parsi?”
An advocate appearing on behalf of the petitioner argued by questioning: “Can a writ be issued by a private body which is the Valsad Parsi Anjuman Trust?”
She had filed the petition because a trust administering an agiyari and a ‘Tower of Silence’ in Valsad allegedly prevented Parsi women married to non-Parsis from performing religious rites there.Gupta, whose parents live in Valsad, fear that in the event of their demise, she may not be allowed by the trust to pray or perform religious rites at the aforesaid places.