Don’t act against those who convert without prior info to District Magistrate: Madhya Pradesh HC

Bench asks State to not prosecute adult citizens ‘if they solemnise the marriage of their own volition’

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has restrained the State government from taking coercive action against individuals who change their religion without prior information to the District Magistrate.

“The constitutional right to the freedom of religion under Article 25 has implicit within it the ability to choose a faith and the freedom to express or not express those choices to the world,” the High Court said as it ordered the State government to not invoke Section 10 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 until further orders.

It further directed the State to not prosecute the adult citizens “if they solemnise the marriage of their own volition”.

Section 10 of the Act makes it obligatory for someone desiring conversion to give a declaration in this regard to the District Magistrate. The contravention of Section 10 and its various sub-Sections can attract imprisonment up to five years, says the order issued on November 14. 

This, a Division Bench of Justices Sujoy Paul and Prakash Chandra Gupta said was ‘ex facie unconstitutional’.

The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 came into force on January 9, 2021 and has drawn criticism for its alleged misuse, particularly in cases of inter-faith marriages. 

In the present case, the court was hearing a bunch of pleas challenging the constitutionality of the law. In one such petition, a specific prayer was made to strike down several other provisions apart from Section 10.