Constitution Does Not Prevent Minor From Becoming Monk

Constitution does not prevent a minor from becoming a monk, the big decision of Karnataka High Court, know the whole matter.

The Karnataka High Court dismissed a petition filed against the consecration of a minor as the head of Udupi’s Shirur Math and held that there is no constitutional or legal bar on one to become a monk.

P Lathavya Acharya, secretary and managing trustee of Sri Shirur Math Bhakta Samiti of Udupi, and three other members of the committee had questioned the appointment of Aniruddha Sarlathya (sannyasa name Vedavardhan Teerth) as the head of the Math, who is below 18 years of age.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Shankar observed that the petitioner had failed to establish the violation of any legal or constitutional provision by the consecration of Sarlathya.

The High Court said, it is certainly not the function of the Court to write a religious text but it is bound to follow the religious text while settling religious disputes and to follow the old practices prevalent in accordance with the religion, so long as it does not allow any Constitutional rights are not violated.

The bench cited the example of Buddhism, in which children are made monks. He said that there is no rule regarding the age of retirement.

Constitution does not prevent a minor from becoming a monk: The bench said that the court is not a religious authority.

If any religious practice is not prejudicial to public order, morality, health, or any other fundamental right, the intervention of the court would be an infringement of constitutional authority.

At the same time, the Karnataka High Court has said in another case that breastfeeding is an indispensable right of a woman among the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Justice Krishna S. Dixit’s single bench made the remarks on Wednesday when it was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a Bengaluru-based woman whose child was stolen from the hospital.

The woman had appealed to the court that the child should be handed over to her from the couple currently taking care of her child.