Child diksha issue: HC to decide on case in August

Seven years after a minor girl was given diksha (ordained as a nun) as per the Jain religion, the Bombay high court will decide whether a minor is capable of deciding whether he/she wants to renounce the world.

Seven years after a minor girl was given diksha (ordained as a nun) as per the Jain religion, the Bombay high court will decide whether a minor is capable of deciding whether he/she wants to renounce the world.

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The court will also decide on whether it can interfere in a religious matter, which is in conflict with the child’s rights.

A division bench of justice Ranjana Desai and justice RV More on Monday kept the petition filed by Ashok Bagricha for hearing on August 23. The issues were raised when a minor girl, a resident of Indore, was given diksha on May 11, 2004 in the city.

The NGO, Child Line, had also filed a petition challenging the conversion of the girl.

The court has sought assistance of additional solicitor general Darius Khambata and advocate general Ravi Kadam on the issue. In 2008, a division bench of high court had compared child diksha with sati (practice of immolating a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre).

On a HC directive, the CWC had interviewed the girl and reported that “the young girl needs care.”