Religious freedom does not include collective right to convert others: Allahabad High Court

Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 13 (ANI): The Allahabad High Court, on Tuesday observed that religious freedom does not include the collective right to convert others while rejecting the bail plea of a person accused of forcibly converting a girl to Islam and sexually exploiting her.

The court stated that the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, is intended to guarantee religious freedom to all individuals, reflecting India’s social harmony. The purpose of this Act is to uphold the spirit of secularism in India.

The bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal further noted that the Constitution grants every individual the right to profess, practice, and propagate their religion. However, this personal right does not translate into a collective right to convert others, as religious freedom is equally available to both the person converting and the person being converted. The High Court made this observation while denying bail to a person named Azeem.

The petitioner, Azeem, is accused of forcing a girl to accept Islam and sexually exploiting her, leading to a case being registered under Sections 323, 504, 506 of the IPC and Sections 3/5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The applicant-accused filed a petition in the High Court, claiming that he was falsely implicated. He asserted that the girl, who was in a relationship with him, had voluntarily left her home. He also claimed that the girl had already confirmed their marriage in statements recorded under Sections 161 and 164 of the CrPC in the related case.

On the other hand, the government lawyer opposed his bail under Section 164 of the CrPC, which mentioned pressure to convert to Islam and described a marriage that took place without conversion.

In light of these facts, the court noted that the informant had clearly stated in her statement under Section 164 of the CrPC that the petitioner and his family members were forcing her to accept Islam. She was also compelled to witness the sacrifice of animals on the day of Bakrid and to prepare and consume non-vegetarian food.

The court further stated that the applicant allegedly held her captive and that his family members forced her to perform certain Islamic rituals that she did not accept.

Further, the court found that in her statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC, she had maintained the version of the FIR. Importantly, the court also noted that the petitioner had failed to present any material evidence on record to show that before the marriage/nikah, an application was filed under Section 8 of the 2021 Act to convert the informant to Islam, as alleged between him and the informant.

After considering the facts and circumstances, the court dismissed the petitioner’s bail application, stating that there was a prima facie violation of Sections 3 and 8 of the 2021 Act, which is punishable under Section 5 of the same Act.