Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Friday stayed the arrest of a man from Haridwar booked by Uttar Pradesh police under Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 and also directed not to take any action against him.
A bench of Justice Pankaj Naqvi and Justice Vivek Agrawal also referred to the issue of the constitutionality of the new ordinance to the Chief Justice who is hearing public interest litigation (PIL) filed against this ordinance.
A case of intimidation and criminal conspiracy has been filed against Nadeem in Muzaffarnagar under sections 3 and 5 of the new ordinance.
Akshay Kumar of Muzaffarnagar had lodged an FIR that Nadeem had illicit relations with his wife with the intention of converting her and was pressurizing her to do so on the pretext of getting married.
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In his defence, Nadeem said that he is a poor labourer and due to some money transaction, he has been implicated in a false case. Nadeem has also challenged the FIR and the new ordinance through a petition.
Senior Advocate SFA Naqvi, on behalf of Nadeem, said that the ordinance is contrary to the basic spirit of the Constitution, therefore the criminal proceedings initiated under it should be cancelled.
He argued that the Central Government has enacted a special marriage act for couples who believe in different religions. It also describes prohibited marriages (such as the marriage of close siblings). His argument was that creating a restricted marriage relationship on the basis of religion by bringing a separate ordinance is a communal and divisive law and that when the Central Government enacted a marriage law, there was no scope for bringing such an ordinance by the state government.
