Allahabad HC to hear pleas against Love Jihad ordinance on Jan 15 amid UP govt's defence

The Allahabad High Court will hear on January 15 the pleas challenging the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020. While Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal stated that it might be inappropriate for the HC to continue the hearings as the Supreme Court has taken cognizance of the matter, a division bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery on Thursday declined this request. Taking note of the fact that the apex court has posted the matter after 4 weeks, the bench mentioned that it shall continue to hear the PILs before it in the meantime.

The petitioners have argued that it is violative of the fundamental rights of citizens. Moreover, they contended that there was no urgent situation to exercise the ordinance making power under Article 213 of the Constitution. Meanwhile, the court has allowed the petitioners to file rejoinder affidavits by the next day of the hearing as a counter affidavit has been filed by the Uttar Pradesh government in defence of the anti-Love Jihad ordinance.

UP government defends ordinance

In its reply to the petitions, the UP government submitted that the Constitution abhors forceful conversion particularly in the matter of religion. It said that the ordinance was passed in "public interest" as there is a fear psychosis in the society at large. Among many examples of what constitutes a forceful conversion cited in the counter affidavit, one of them was a Hindu woman's conversion to Islam after marriage with a Muslim man.

According to the state government, such conversion is done out of compulsion as Muslim personal law treats such inter-religious marriage as invalid. To buttress its point, it claimed that the Hindu woman will be deprived of inheritance unless she gives up her faith and accepts Islam. Challenging the maintainability of these pleas, it argued that the HC cannot test the constitutionality of legislation in PILs. 

Read: Kochi Interfaith Marriage Declared Invalid By The Church; 'Love Jihad' Angle Triggers Row

Tough penalties

Under the aforesaid UP ordinance, an individual who forcefully marries a girl for the sheer purpose of converting her religion can face punishment up to 10 years in jail. Such a marriage will be declared null and void. Besides this, mass conversions shall be punishable with a jail term of 3-10 years and a fine of Rs.50,000 on the organizations conducting it. If someone wants to convert to another religion, he/she has to submit an application to the District Magistrate two months in advance. Incidentally, the UP government's move comes amid an Allahabad HC's judgment affirming that "the right to live with a person of his/her choice irrespective of religion professed by them, is intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty".

Read: 224 Eminent Citizens Counter Ex-bureaucrats On Demand For Revoking UP Love Jihad Ordinance