Rajasthan High Court declare Jain community practice of SANTHARA as unconstitutional and illegal

In a totally unexpected ruling, the Division Bench of Rajasthan High Court by its judgment dated 10th August 2015 (Nikhil Soni vs Union of India & others D.B.Civil Writ Petition No.7414/2006 (Public Interest Litigation) ruled that the practice of Santhara by the Jain Community is akin to suicide and is unconstitutional. The Court allowed the PIL filed by a practicing advocate with direction to the State authorities to stop the practice of 'Santhara' or 'Sallekhana' and to treat it as suicide punishable under section 309 of the Indian Penal Code and its abetment by persons under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. The Court also directed the Government to stop and abolish the practice of ‘Santhara' and 'Sallekhana' in the Jain religion in any form. The Court further directed that any complaint made in this regard should be registered as a criminal case and investigated by the police in accordance with Section 309 or Section 306 of Indian Penal Code.

This judgment has led to much unrest and anger amongst the Jain community. It is hoped and believed that this judgment will be appropriately dealt with by the Supreme Court in coming days on an appropriate appeal or petition being filed in the Supreme Court. 

Here is the link to this judgment....

Cow Slaughter continues despite Constitution Bench judgment of Supreme Court of India

Dear Friends, The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Constitution Bench of 7 Judges) way back on 26^th October 2005 in a detailed judgment in the case of State of Gujarat vs Mirzapur Moti Kureshi Kassab Jamat and Ors. had banned the cow slaughter.

Are you aware that Articles 48 and 48-A of the Constitution of India lays down directive principles for the State to save the cows. These read as under :

"48. Organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry.--The State shall endeavor to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.

48-A. Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wild life.--The State shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.

Similarly, Article 51A of the Constitution of India lays down fundamental duty for every citizen of India to have compassion for living creatures. This article reads as under:

51-A. Fundamental duties.--It shall be the duty of every citizen of India--

(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;"

However, sadly, the slaughter of our mother cow is still rampant in India. Cow is worshiped by many in India and it hurt our sentiments when the cow is slaughtered. Those who want to eat non-veg food have alternatives. Secularism and respect for other religions does not mean that Hindu values can be ignored or suppressed. The biggest problem is that people do not understand the meaning of the term "SECULAR" country. Secular exactly means a country which allows all the religions to be flourished without hurting sentiments of each other.

Every single State in India should ban cow slaughter.  Some State Governments have made laws to prevent cow slaughter but these are not being implemented. The remedy is that Central Government should make a central law for preventing cow slaughter which would be applicable throughout India and then to strictly implement and enforce this law.

In these ensuing Lok Sabha elections, let us impress upon and persuade our candidates to take a vow for passing a central legislation on prevention of cow slaughter.

The Constitution Bench judgment of Supreme Court can be accessed at following link :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qwbisfkwt7xuqq6/State%20of%20Gujarat%20vs%20Mirzapur%20Moti%20Kureshi%20Kassab%20Jamat-SC-7Judges-26.10.2005-qureshi%20judgment%20on%20cow%20slaughter%20overruled.doc

Kindly circulate this post far and wide. 

Let us save our mother cow.

Sunil Goel advocate B.Sc. L.Lb L.Lm

Supreme Court judgment on Ramdev Ramlila Maidan incident of June 2011

Dear Friends,

The Supreme Court of India in its judgment of 23rd February 2012 has expanded the scope of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India to include right to sound sleep and elevated this right to the category of fundamental rights. This judgment was given on suo moto cognizance by Supreme Court on the incident which happened in June 2011 at Ramlila Maidan New Delhi where police crack down at midnight on the people who were sleeping and had gathered there in support of yoga guru Ramdev. 

This judgment is very important and would be helpful for those who have been feeling disturbed, particularly at night, because of noisy activities going on in their neighbourhood. 

Read the complete judgment.

Sunil Goel advocate B.Sc. L.Lb L.Lm