The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that religious freedom does
not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion
and that it certainly does not embrace the right to convert an individual
through fraud, deception, coercion or allurement.
The central government said it is ”cognisant of the menace” and laws
that seek to control such practices are necessary to protect the
cherished rights of vulnerable sections of society including women
and the economically and socially backward classes.
The Centre's stand came on a short affidavit in response to a plea by
advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking direction to take
stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conversion by
"intimidation" and through "gifts and monetary benefits".
The affidavit, filed through deputy secretary of ministry of home
affairs, asserted that the reliefs sought in the present petition would
be taken up "in all seriousness" by the Union of India, and that it is
”cognizant of the gravity and the seriousness of the issue raised in
the present writ petition”.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Raviumar, while hearing the
matter, observed it was not against religious conversions but forced
conversions, and asked the Centre to file a detailed affidavit on the
issue after taking information from states.
”You file a detailed affidavit after obtaining the necessary information
from the concerned states. We are not against conversion. But there
cannot be any forced conversion,” the court observed.
The court deferred hearing on the petition as well as an impleadment
application challenging its maintainability till December 5.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that forced conversion
was a ”serious menace” and a "national issue" and that in its affidavit
the central government has mentioned about the relevant steps taken
by certain states.
The affidavit informed that public order being a state subject, various
states — Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh,
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Haryana —
have passed laws seeking to curb forced conversions.
”The petitioner has, in the present writ petition, highlighted a large
number of instances carried out in an organised, systematic and
sophisticated manner of conversion of vulnerable citizens in the
country through fraud, deception, coercion, allurement or other such
means.
"It is submitted that the right to freedom of religion does not include a
fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion. The
said right certainly does not include the right to convert an individual
through fraud, deception, coercion, allurement or other such means,”
the affidavit said.
The Centre said the apex court has already held in a case that the
word ‘propagate' under Article 25 of the Constitution does not
envisage the right to convert a person but a right to spread one's
religion by exposition of its tenets.
It said fraudulent or induced conversion impinges upon the right to
freedom of conscience of an individual and hampers public order and
therefore the state was well within its power to regulate or restrict it.
”Undoubtedly the right to freedom to religion, and more importantly,
the right to conscience of all citizens of the country, is an extremely
cherished and valuable right which ought to be protected by the
executive and the legislature,” the Centre's response said.
”The meaning and purport of the word ‘propagate' falling under
Article 25 of the Constitution was discussed and debated in great
detail in the Constituent Assembly and the inclusion of the said word
was passed by the Constituent Assembly only after the clarification
that the fundamental right under Article 25 would not include the right
to convert,” it added.
Upadhyay told the court he has filed an additional affidavit in the
matter. In the affidavit, he sought directions to review visa rules for
religious preachers and foreign missionaries, review foreign
contribution rules for NGOs and for taking steps to control hawala
funding.
The top court had on September 23 sought responses from the Centre
and others to the petition.
Earlier this month, terming forced religious conversion a "very
serious" issue, the court had taken a serious note of proselytization
through deception, allurement and intimidation, and asked the Centre
to step in and make sincere efforts to check the practice.
Upadhyay has submitted in his plea that forced religious conversion
is a nationwide problem which needs to be tackled immediately.
"The injury caused to the citizens is extremely large because there is
not even one district which is free of religious conversion by 'hook
and crook'," the plea has submitted.
"Incidents are reported every week throughout the country where
conversion is done by intimidating, threatening, deceivingly luring
through gifts and monetary benefits and also by using black magic,
superstition, miracles but Centre and States have not taken stringent
steps to stop this menace," said the plea filed through advocate
Ashwani Kumar Dubey.
The plea has also sought directions to the Law Commission of India
to prepare a report as well as a Bill to control religious conversion by
intimidation and monetary benefits.
