Compelling Spouse To Convert In Inter-Religious Marriage Amounts To Mental Cruelty, Violates Right To Life: Madras High Court

In a significant judgment, the Madras High Court while upholding special court's order dissolving an inter-faith marriage, has held that in inter-religious marriages, persistently compelling a spouse to convert himself or herself to another religion to which the other spouse belongs to, amounts to cruelty. A division bench of Justice N Seshasayee (now retired) and Justice Victoria Gowri further held that when a husband or a wife in a matrimonial life was subjected to persistent and consistent cruelty compelling them to convert to another religion, the same would also amount to curtailment of life and liberty ensured in Article 21 of the constitution. The bench further held that such cruelty would also amount to the denial of the fundamental right to profess religion enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution. “When a husband or wife in a matrimonial life is subjected to consistent and persistent cruelty compelling them to convert into the other one's religion to which one of the spouses belong to, such a circumstance would certainly amount to curtailment of life and liberty ensured by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Denial of right to freely profess and practice one's religion and compelling him or her to convert to the religion of the other, would deprive the victim of his/her life and personal liberty,” the court said. The court observed that when a person is not allowed to profess and practice their religion, it would miserably affect the quality of their life and would result in a lifeless life without dignity. "Right to life under Articles 21, 39(e), 39(f), 41 and 42 are meant to ensure a life with human dignity. When a man/woman is denied with a personal right to profess and practice their own religion, upholding their respective freedom of conscience and beliefs, the same would miserably affect the quality of life, resulting in a lifeless life without dignity," the court saidThe court also held that when a man or woman in marriage is compelled to convert in the name of god and in the name of religion for the sake of securing matrimony, it would shatter the foundation of the matrimony itself. “The institution of marriage under every personal law is a holy unison of two souls. Marriage system is treated as sacred and the same has to be preserved. But in the name of God, in the name of religion, when a woman in a marriage or a man in a marriage is compelled to convert herself/himself to the religion of other for the sake of securing the matrimony would amount to shattering the foundation of the matrimony itself,” the court observed.The court was hearing a plea filed by a Muslim Husband challenging the order of a Family Court dissolving his marriage with his Hindu wife. The wife had approached the Family Court seeking dissolution of marriage on two grounds – cruelty and desertion. She had submitted that her husband constantly compelled her to convert her religion and even abused her by referring to her caste as she belonged to the Scheduled Caste community. The husband argued that the case was filed with considerable motivation. It was argued that though the wife claimed that she was brutally beaten up and she had taken treatment for the same, no documentary evidence had been brought in to support the same. He also contended that there was no evidence to prove that she was forced by her husband to convert to Islam. The court noted that in the present case, though the couple married out of love under the Special Marriage Act, the husband subjected the wife to physical and emotional abuse continuously and consistently by forcing her to convert to religion and even indulging in the day-to-day affairs of her beliefs. The court noted that the husband had even gone on to change the wife's Hindu name to a Muslim name. The court also noted that the husband had withdrawn himself from the matrimonial home and started living with his sister for more than 2 years. The court also noted that when the wife took salvage with the Jamaat to which the husband belonged and sought reconciliation, the husband voluntarily executed a consent deed expressing his consent for a separation. “In the name of love, he had love locked the respondent wife to fall for him in the name of marriage and had enticed her heart, which led her to commit with him in the relationship of marriage, though without converting herself to Islam… She continued to remain a Hindu even during her marriage and even after the birth of her children, but the appellant with the wicked mind and with his continued perseverance, kept on pestering her to convert to Islam consistently and went to the extent of even changing her name,” the court observed. The court was thus satisfied that the husband had inflicted grave mental pain and suffering on the wife by compelling her to convert to the Island and leaving the matrimonial house when she refused to do the same. The ...

Compelling Spouse To Convert In Inter-Religious Marriage Amounts To Mental Cruelty, Violates Right To Life: Madras High Court

Upasana Sajeev

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