India
Right to freedom of religion does not include right to convert others: HC | India News – Times of India
PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad High Court noted that the right to freedom of religion does not include the right to convert others. The court made the observation while denying bail to a person accused of religious conversion.
The rejection of the bail application of Shriniwas Rav Nayak Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal on Tuesday ruled that India’s Constitution gives citizens the right to profess, practice and propagate their religion, but that conversion to another faith is not allowed.
“The Constitution gives every individual the fundamental right to profess, practice and propagate his religion. However, the individual right to freedom of conscience and religion cannot be extended to a collective right to proselytize,” the court said, adding that the right to religious freedom belongs equally to the person who converts and to the individual who seeks to be converted.
Nayak, a native of Andhra Pradesh, was arrested under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 for converting some Hindus to Christianity, promising relief from pain and a better life. While some villagers embraced Christianity and started praying, the informant, Brijlal, escaped and reported the incident to the police.
According to the prosecution, the informant was invited to the house of a co-accused in Maharajganj district of UP in February this year. He allegedly saw many other people there, mostly belonging to the Scheduled Caste community. The accused allegedly asked the informant to abandon Hinduism and embrace Christianity so that “all his pains would end and he would progress in life.” However, the informant escaped from the spot and informed the police, leading to the registration of a case.
After hearing arguments of both sides, the Supreme Court observed that the Act of 2021 clearly prohibits conversion from one religion to another on the basis of misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion and inducement. The court also observed that the Act further provides punishment for violation of the provisions of the section, which also restricts a person from abetting, persuading or conspiring to commit such conversion.
The court further stated that the 2021 Act was enacted with a view to Article 25 of the Constitution of India, which does not allow any citizen to convert another citizen from one religion to another religion.
In view of this and considering the allegations against the accused, the court observed that the informant was induced to convert to another religion. This was prima facie sufficient to deny bail to the applicant as it established that a conversion programme was going on and that many villagers belonging to the scheduled caste community were being converted from Hinduism to Christianity.
The rejection of the bail application of Shriniwas Rav Nayak Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal on Tuesday ruled that India’s Constitution gives citizens the right to profess, practice and propagate their religion, but that conversion to another faith is not allowed.
“The Constitution gives every individual the fundamental right to profess, practice and propagate his religion. However, the individual right to freedom of conscience and religion cannot be extended to a collective right to proselytize,” the court said, adding that the right to religious freedom belongs equally to the person who converts and to the individual who seeks to be converted.
Nayak, a native of Andhra Pradesh, was arrested under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 for converting some Hindus to Christianity, promising relief from pain and a better life. While some villagers embraced Christianity and started praying, the informant, Brijlal, escaped and reported the incident to the police.
According to the prosecution, the informant was invited to the house of a co-accused in Maharajganj district of UP in February this year. He allegedly saw many other people there, mostly belonging to the Scheduled Caste community. The accused allegedly asked the informant to abandon Hinduism and embrace Christianity so that “all his pains would end and he would progress in life.” However, the informant escaped from the spot and informed the police, leading to the registration of a case.
After hearing arguments of both sides, the Supreme Court observed that the Act of 2021 clearly prohibits conversion from one religion to another on the basis of misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion and inducement. The court also observed that the Act further provides punishment for violation of the provisions of the section, which also restricts a person from abetting, persuading or conspiring to commit such conversion.
The court further stated that the 2021 Act was enacted with a view to Article 25 of the Constitution of India, which does not allow any citizen to convert another citizen from one religion to another religion.
In view of this and considering the allegations against the accused, the court observed that the informant was induced to convert to another religion. This was prima facie sufficient to deny bail to the applicant as it established that a conversion programme was going on and that many villagers belonging to the scheduled caste community were being converted from Hinduism to Christianity.
