"Marriage illegal:" Allahabad High Court cites non-compliance with UP anti-conversion law to refuse protection to 3 interfaith couples

The Allahabad High Court recently refused to grant protection to three inter-faith couples on the ground that their marriages were "illegal" since they had not complied with the requirements under the recently enacted anti-conversion law - Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act (Act). .While in two of the cases, the women involved had converted to Hindu religion from Islam to marry Hindu men, a third case involved a Hindu man converting to Islam to marry Muslim woman. Single-judge Justice Siddharth rejected the contentions of the inter-faith couples on the ground that there was non-compliance with Sections 8 and 9 of the Act which would make the marriage illegal. The couples had approached the High Court seeking protection from their family members who were allegedly threatening them. .In one of the pleas, one petitioner was Muslim and the other, Vivek Saini was a Hindu, who had adopted Islam on March 5 to marry his Muslim partner. "A certificate of acceptance of religion of Islam by Petitioner No. 2, signed by Kazi has been brought on record in support of the aforesaid statement by way of Annexure No. 3. Thereafter, the petitioners have entered into Nikah," the Court noted. However, it held that since there was not compliance with Sections 8 and 9 of anti-conversion act, the certificate of Kazi would be of no consequence. "In view of the Section 8 & 9 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020, the marriage of the petitioner no. 2 with petitioner no. 1 is illegal. The certificate of Kazi is of no consequence in view of the above ordinance. There is no compliance of the aforesaid Sections and the conversion of the petitioner no. 2 from Hindu religion to Islamic religion is in contravention to the aforesaid ordinance which has now been made a Bill," the order said dismissing the petition. .In another case, the woman, a Muslim had converted to Hinduism to marry a Hindu man. A certificate by a Sansakar Adhikari of Arya Samaj was also produced. The Court, however, held that there was no compliance with the provisions of the Act and, therefore, no relief can be granted. "In view of the Section 8 & 9 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020 (Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Viruddh Dharm Samparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadesh 2020), the conversion of the petitioner no.1, Smt. Kareena @ Pooja, cannot be held to be legal, therefore no relief can be granted to the petitioners. There is no compliance of the aforesaid Sections and the conversion of the petitioner no. 1 from Islamic religion to Hindu religion is in contravention to the aforesaid ordinance which has now been made a Bill," the order said. In the third case too, the woman, a Muslim had adopted Hindu faith to get married to Hindu man but no evidence was produced of such conversion. "They have applied for online registration of their marriage but in view of the Section 8 and 9 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020 (Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Viruddh Dharm Samparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadesh 2020), the conversion of the petitioner no.2 is not to be in accordance with law, therefore no relief can be granted to the petitioners," the Court said. .Interestingly, the same bench of Justice Siddharth had earlier granted protection to 26 couples, who had approached the court stating that they had apprehension from their family members.In a majority of those cases, the petitioners had claimed that they were adults and had gotten married against the wishes of their family members.While disposing of those petitions, the Court had directed the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of various cities across Uttar Pradesh to ensure the safety and security of petitioner couples..Allahabad High Court passes 26 orders in 3 days granting police protection to couples.The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act was initially brought in as an ordinance. It was later passed as a law by the UP assembly. One of the most debated aspect of the law is the implications it will have on inter-faith marriages. Section 6 of the Act states that any marriage which was done for the sole purpose of unlawful conversion or vice-versa by the man of one religion with the woman of another religion, either by converting himself/herself before or after marriage or by converting the woman before or after marriage, shall be declared void by the family court or where the family court is not established, by the court having jurisdiction to try such case on a petition presented by either party thereto against the other party of the marriage. Further, anybody who wishes to convert from one religion to another has to go through the procedure prescribed by in Sections 8 and 9. As per the Section 8, one who desires to convert his or her religion should give a declaration in the form prescribed in Schedule I at least sixty days in advance to the District Magistrate or the Additional District Magistrate specially authorized by District Magistrate, that he wishes to convert his/her religion on his/her own and with his or her free consent without any force, coercion, undue influence or allurement. The Religious Convertor who is slated to perform the conversion ceremony should also give a one month's advance notice in the form prescribed in Schedule II of such conversion to the District Magistrate or the Additional District Magistrate appointed for the same by the District Magistrate. Thereafter, the police will conduct a police inquiry to ascertain the real intention, purpose, and cause of the proposed religious conversion. A person undergoing religious conversion who violates Section 8 shall be punished with imprisonment between 6 months and 3 years and fine which is not below Rs. 10,000. A religious converter who violates Section 8 shall be punished with imprisonment between 1 to and 5 years and fine which is not less than Rs. 25,000. Section 9 lays down the procedure to be followed post conversion. It mandates that a converted person should send a declaration in the form prescribed in Schedule III within 60 days of the date of conversion to the District Magistrate of the district within which the person ordinarily resides. The declaration should contain all requisite details including permanent address, place of residence, the religion to which the person originally belonged and the religion to which the person has converted. The converted individual should then appear before the District Magistrate within 21 days from the date of sending of declaration to confirm the contents of the declaration. The District Magistrate will record the contents of the declaration and the confirmation in a register maintained by him for this purpose. Contravention of provisions of Section 9 will render the conversion illegal and void..[Read Orders]