Supreme Court Issues Notice In PIL Challenging Female Genital Mutilation in Dawoodi Bohra Community

The petition, filed by Chetna Welfare Society, through AoR Sadhana Sandhu urges the Court to frame binding guidelines and acknowledge the urgent need for legal and judicial reform to curb the practice.

The Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan issued notice in the PIL and on an oral request impleaded the Ministry of Women and Child Development through its Secretary, Government of India as respondent No.3.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Shashi Kiran appeared for the Welfare society, 

According to the petition, the ritual; referred to as khatna or khafd, involves cutting a part of the clitoral hood of girls, typically around the age of seven, with the stated objective of curbing sexual desire. The petitioner describes it as a deep-rooted custom followed for over 500 years within the community, despite its lack of sanction in the Quran and opposition from many Islamic scholars worldwide.

The application notes that although FGM is not recognised as mandatory in Islam, it is endorsed in Daim al-Islam, a religious text followed by the Dawoodi Bohra denomination. The petition stresses that the practice has parallels with archaic customs such as sati and fundamentally violates the autonomy and bodily integrity of women and children.

Crucially, the petition argues that FGM infringes Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution; provisions safeguarding life, personal liberty, equality and protection from discrimination. Citing the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, the petitioner submits that the right to privacy, decisional autonomy and bodily integrity are intrinsic to Article 21, making such non-consensual and medically unnecessary genital cutting unconstitutional.

The application also highlights the constitutional tension between the rights to equality and bodily autonomy under Articles 14, 15 and 21 and the protections of religious freedom under Articles 25 and 26. The petitioner contends that while religious freedom is a guaranteed right, it cannot extend to practices that inflict harm, discriminate on the basis of sex or violate the dignity of women and girls. It further argues that Articles 25 and 26, when invoked by religious denominations, often shield harmful customs from legislative scrutiny.

The petition points out that India has no standalone law banning FGM, despite global consensus on its illegality. The act currently falls within provisions of the BNS relating to causing hurt, including sections 113 and 118, as well as under the POCSO Act, which prohibits touching the genitalia of a minor without medical justification. The petitioner notes that this legislative vacuum allows the practice to continue without accountability.

Internationally, the petition relies on the World Health Organization’s classification of FGM as a grave human rights violation, as well as resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly calling for its global elimination. Despite these global norms, the petition claims that an estimated 75 percent of women in the Dawoodi Bohra community continue to subject their daughters to the ritual, reflecting the persistence of social pressures and the lack of adequate legal deterrence.

The petitioner relies heavily on constitutional jurisprudence post-Maneka Gandhi, arguing that all fundamental rights must be read harmoniously and that any practice infringing multiple rights must independently satisfy the tests of Articles 14, 15, 19, 21 and 29. It submits that since FGM is neither essential to religion nor protected cultural expression, it must yield to the superior claims of equality and personal liberty.

The petition emphasises that several countries; including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and many African nations, have enacted explicit bans on FGM, but India continues without a dedicated statute. The petitioner describes this absence as a “serious glitch” affecting the status, safety and dignity of women and children.