Supreme Court Issues Notice On Gujarat Govt's Plea Against HC Order Protecting Inter-Faith Couples From Anti-Conversion Law

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on the special leave petition filed by the State of Gujarat against the order of the Gujarat High Court which declared that the 'anti-conversion' law will not apply to inter-faith marriages between consenting adults.On August 19, 2021, a division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Vikram Nath (now elevated to the Supreme Court) and Justice Biren Vaishnav had passed the order to protect inter-faith couples from undue harassment. The bench made a prima facie observation that the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act 2021 "interferes with the intricacies of marriage including the right to the choice of an individual, thereby infringing Article 21 of the Constitution Of India". The bench had passed the order after noting that as per the law, "marriage itself and a consequential conversion is deemed as an unlawful conversion attracting penal provisions" and this puts inter-faith couples in "in great jeopardy".Challenging this order, the Gujarat Government approached the Supreme Court. A bench comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari considered the matter today.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Gujarat, submitted that he is not pressing for a stay at the moment as it is not the right time to hear the matter.The bench then issued notice to Jamia Ulama-E-Hind Gujarat and other private respondents who have challenged the law before the High Court. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal along with Advocate on Record MR Shamshad appeared for the respondents.The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2003 was brought to ban conversion" by force or allurement or fraudulent means". The 2021 amendment brings conversions due to marriage through force or allurement or fraudulent means under the purview of the Act.The High Court said that the interpretation advanced by the Advocate General that the Act only deals with conversions after inter-faith marriage by way of allurement, force or by fraudulent means "may not be understood by the common man".The High Court said that a common man might perceive every conversion due to inter-faith marriage as prohibited by the Act. "From the perception of the common man, it appears that merely because a conversion occurs because of marriage, it per se cannot be held to be an unlawful conversion or a marriage done for the purpose of unlawful conversion", it said."Prima-facie inter-faith marriages between two consenting adults by operation of the provisions of Section 3 of the 2003 Act interferes with the intricacies of marriage including the right to the choice of an individual, thereby infringing Article 21 of the Constitution Of India", the Court added.The Amendment Act was notified on April 1 last year, in the lines of "anti-love jihad" laws brought by the States of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The provisions of the Amendment Act are explained here.The bench passed the order in a writ petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-E-Hind and Muhahid Nafees challenging the provisions of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021. Later, the Gujarat Government filed an application seeking rectification of the order to the effect that permission of District Magistrate under Section 5 should be mandatory for conversion due to inter-faith marriages.On August 26, the Court rejected the rectification application and affirmed that prior permission of District Magistrate was not required when conversion was due to marriage.The Act was challenged as an invasion into personal autonomy, free choice, freedom of religion, and unlawful discrimination and hence violative of the fundamental rights under Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution. On August 5, the Court had heard arguments in the petition (report may be read here).Case Title : State of Gujarat vs Jamia Ulama-E-Hind Gujarat and others |SLP(C) No. 019945 - 019946 / 2021 Click here to read/download the order

Supreme Court Issues Notice On Gujarat Govt's Plea Against HC Order Protecting Inter-Faith Couples From Anti-Conversion Law

Shruti Kakkar

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