The Allahabad High Court has refused to grant relief to inter-faith couples, citing non-compliance of the contentious new law against unlawful conversion of religion, in particular the mandatory requirement of submitting a declaration form before the district magistrate (DM) 60 days prior to conversion.
In three recent cases, the court dismissed petitions filed by inter-faith couples citing non-compliance of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 (now an Act).
A Muslim woman from Muzaffarnagar got married to a Hindu man on February 27. She submitted before court that she had converted to the Hindu religion and a certificate by a ‘sanskar adhikari’ of the Arya Samaj was issued. Citing sections 8 and 9 of the unlawful conversion law, the court said the woman’s conversion “cannot be held to be legal, therefore, no relief can be granted to the petitioners.”
Justice Siddharth in an order dated June 25 said there was no compliance of the aforesaid sections and the conversion of the woman from Islam to the Hindu religion “is in contravention” to the law.
In another case, a Muslim woman from Banda entered into ‘nikah’ with a Hindu man after he adopted Islam on March 5. A certificate of acceptance of religion of Islam by the man signed by a ‘kazi’ was submitted by the couple.
Citing Sections 8 and 9 of the law, the court held the marriage illegal.
“The certificate of Kazi is of no consequence in view of the above ordinance and the conversion of the petitioner no. 2 from Hindu religion to Islamic religion is in contravention to the aforesaid ordinance…,” Justice Siddharth said, dismissing the petition.
A Muslim woman and a Hindu man from Amroha approached the court, saying they had married as per Hindu marriage rites. The court said there was “no evidence of conversion” of the woman to the Hindu religion. “Without conversion to the Hindu religion, the marriage of the petitioners cannot be said to be in accordance with law,” the court said.
The couple applied for online registration of their marriage but the court held that in view of the new law, the conversion was not in accordance with law.
Section 8 of the new law against unlawful conversion states that one who desires to convert his or her religion, he or she shall give a declaration in a prescribed form at least 60 days in advance to the DM or the additional district magistrate that he or she wishes to convert his or her religion on his or her own and with his or her free consent and without any force, coercion, undue influence or allurement. Section 9 mandates that the converted person shall send a declaration in a prescribed form within sixty days of the date of conversion to the DM.
