24 September,2018 04:43 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
In a big win for a large number of practising Dawoodi Bohra women, the on-going case related to their practice of Khafz was today referred to a Constitution Bench.
Upholding the voice of over 72,000 women under the banner of the Dawoodi Bohra Women's Association for Religious Freedom (DBWRF), who say that Khafz or Female Circumcisionn(FC) as practised by them is not Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), the order was passed by a Bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud. The plea to refer the case to a Constitution Bench was made by Attorney General KK Venugopal and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, and comes on the back of compelling arguments put forth by Senior lawyers AM Singhvi and Meenakshi Arora.
Speaking on the development, Samina Kanchwala, Secretary, DBWRF said, "The Supreme Court has today upheld the voice of a large section of Dawoodi Bohra women in India. Our lawyers have done a wonderful job in getting our voices heard, and we welcome the decision to refer the case to the Constitution Bench. Since the day DBWRF was formed, we have maintained that FC is not FGM and we will continue to clear the misconceptions that the two practices are the same."
In fact, an affidavit filed by the Ministry of Women and Child, in categorical terms records that there is neither prevalence of FGM in India today nor any studies on the same. More recently, Nafisa Vahanvati, the widow of former Attorney General of India Goolamhussein Essaji Vahanvati has also come out in the Supreme Court in support of Female Circumcision and the right of the Dawoodi Bohra women to practice their religion.
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With the case now being referred to the Constitution Bench, it is an encouraging development that the voice of the community women will not go unheard in a democratic nation like India.
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