Love Jihad: SC refuses to entertain PIL against MP law on religious conversions

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 19

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL challenging a Madhya Pradesh ordinance regulating conversions due to inter-faith marriages.

“Approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court. We would like to have the views of the high court. We have sent similar matters back to the high court,” a Bench led by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde told petitioner Vishal Thakre – an advocate.

Thakre alleged that the ordinance infringed a person’s right to privacy and freedom of choice and violated his/her fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 (right to equality), 19(1)(a) (right to free speech) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution.

The top court — which had on January 6 issued notice to Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand government on PILs against similar laws on religious conversions — had earlier refused to entertain certain other petitions on the issue as well.

However, it had refused to stay provisions of an Uttar Pradesh Ordinance and an Uttarakhand law aimed at checking unlawful religious conversion for inter-faith marriages.

On Wednesday, it had allowed Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind – an organisation espousing Islamic causes in India—to become a party to petitions challenging laws passed by some BJP-ruled states to check unlawful religious conversion for inter-faith marriages.

Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind alleged that a large number of Muslims are being harassed under these laws across India.

It had also allowed governments of Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to be made parties to the petitions challenging the controversial laws after it was pointed out that the two states have laws similar to those in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand which are already under challenge.

The Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Virudh Dharma Samparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadhesh, 2020 (Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020) – which was promulgated in November last– prescribes imprisonment from one year to 5 years, or Rs 15,000 fine (in normal cases) minimum three years and maximum 10 years, and fine of Rs 25,000, if the girl is a minor or from the SC/ST community. 

It prescribes a jail term of minimum three years up to 10 years, and Rs 50,000 fine in cases involving mass religious conversion. The offence is cognizable and non-bailable.

According to the Ordinance, no person shall convert or attempt to convert either directly or otherwise any other person from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage nor shall any person abet, convince or conspire such conversion.

The petitioners contended that the laws violated right to life and personal liberty and right to religion guaranteed under Articles 21 and 25 of the constitution respectively, as they authorised the state to suppress personal liberty and the freedom to practice religion of one’s choice.

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