The Supreme Court on Monday lifted the ban on the Jain ritual Santhara. Santhara, a religious ritual in which a person voluntary fasts unto death, was made a punishable offence by Rajasthan’s High Court under Section 309 (attempt to suicide) of IPC.
The petition by Akhil Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Parishad, challenging the HC decision, said, “Santhara was not an act to terminate one’s life but a vow intended to purify the soul from the karmas, and it could not be equated with the offence of suicide.”
The Jain society has welcomed the SC verdict, calling it a victory of truth and morality.