New Delhi: Hearing the matter on steps to control fraudulent religious conversion, the Supreme Court on Monday said that forced conversions are against the Indian Constitution. Reiterating that forced conversion is a 'serious issue', the bench said, "Do not take it as adversarial. It is a very serious issue and is ultimately against our Constitution."
The Supreme Court bench comprising bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar was hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking direction to the Centre and states to take stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conversion by "intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits".
"Our Constitution has Article 25 in place. Not all conversions are propagated with foul intentions. It's the forced conversions that are against the Indian Constitution. Propagation, help, everything is welcome. But the intention should be clear," the bench noted during the hearing.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought time to furnish detailed information on the issue, clarifying to the court that the centre is collecting information from states on religious conversion. We are gathering information from the states. Give us a week's time," Mehta said, adding that the regime will determine whether a person is converting due to some change in belief.
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"Belief is a different thing and belief by allurement is very dangerous. Therefore the statutory regime is that neutral authority will decide whether it is in lieu of medicines, or there is religious philosophical change," Justice Mehta said, referring to advocate Hegdes's statement on providing medicines made during the last hearing.
When a lawyer questioned the maintainability of the plea, the bench said, "Do not be so technical. We are here to find a solution. We are here for a cause. If you think a particular community needs help, they should be helped. It doesn't mean it is done for converting. The intention is important," Justice Shah added.
The apex court will now take up the matter on December 12.
