UP Govt seeks transfer of anti-Love Jihad ordinance pleas from Allahabad HC to SC

In a key development, the Uttar Pradesh government has sought the transfer of the pending pleas in the Allahabad High Court against the anti-Love Jihad ordinance to the Supreme Court. This application has been filed under Article 139A after a division bench of the Allahabad HC comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery refused to stop hearing the petitions. The UP government highlighted that similar petitions are being heard by a three-judge bench of the apex court comprising CJI SA Bobde, Justice V Ramasubramanian and Justice AS Bopanna.

These petitions are likely to be listed for hearing in the month of February. On the other hand, the Allahabad HC has scheduled the matter for final hearing on January 25. When cases involving the same or substantially the same questions of law are pending before the SC and one or more HCs, the apex court has the power to withdraw the cases pending before the HC and dispose of them itself. 

Read: In First Case Under 'Love-Jihad' Law, Man Arrested In Madhya Pradesh's Barwani Dist

UP government defends ordinance

Under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, an individual who forcefully marries a girl for the sheer purpose of converting her religion can face a punishment of 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.

In its counter affidavit before the Allahabad HC, 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: 'Gujarat Govt Studying Anti-conversion Laws Of MP & UP': Dy CM Patel On Love Jihad Law