Kolkata: For probably the first time in the country, the division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted permission to live-stream the hearing in a petition currently pending. The hearing is in connection with a Parsi woman's plea seeking her grandchildren's entry into the fire temple, the Zoroastrian community's place of worship.
When asked why a request for live-streaming was made, lawyer Phiroze Edulji said there was a need for the entire Parsi community in the country to listen to the court's take on the matter.
A case has been filed by Prochy N Mehta and her daughter Sanaya Mehta Vyas, who married outside the community and, as per norms, the latter's children is not allowed to enter the fire temple.
"According to rituals, children of Parsis marrying outside the community cannot enter the fire temple. Through live-streaming, we want every Indian Parsi to have access to the whole hearing process and hear the court's take," said Edulji.
The defendants in the case are late Ervad Dhunjeebhoy Byramjee Mehta's Zoroastrian Anjuman Atash Adaram Trust and the Parsi Zoroastrian Association of Kolkata, which is a member of the trust and is also seeking live-streaming of the court hearings.
Edulji said a plea earlier put forth by the Parsi Zoroastrian Association of Kolkata to live-stream the proceedings was rejected by the trial court. "We went for an intra-court appeal and on Wednesday, Justices Sanjib Banerjee and Kaushik Chandra accepted our application," he said.
"Currently, the case against the entry of children of those married outside the Parsi community has been sent back to the single-judge bench and my client will file an application against it," added the laywer.
The next date of hearing is yet to be announced. The court is also yet to decide on the medium through which live-streaming would be allowed.
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