New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday termed forceful religious conversion as a "very serious issue" issue and instructed the Centre to intervene and take concrete steps to curb such practice before the situation aggravates.
The bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice Hima Kohli made the observation during the hearing of a PIL filed by BJP member and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay against forceful religious conversions.
The bench also warned of a "very difficult situation" if the practice is not checked. It asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to enumerate measures to curb the practice through allurement.
"This is a very serious matter. Sincere efforts are to be made by the Centre to stop forced conversions. Otherwise very difficult situation will come. Tell us what action do you propose....You have to step in," the bench said.
"It is a very serious issue which affects security of the nation and freedom of religion and conscience. Therefore, it is better that Union of India may make their stand clear and file counter on what further steps can be taken to curb such forced conversion," it added.
The plea was filed in the light of 17-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu ending her life by suicide alleging that she was tortured and pressurised to convert into Christianity by the missionary school she studied in.
It had sought directions for an investigation into the matter by NIA,CBI, and NHRC. It sought directions to prevent fraudulent religious conversions by intimidation, threat and lure of gifts and monetary benefits. It had also sought directions to the Centre to tackle the issue or ask the Law Commission to prepare a bill to deal with forceful conversions.
