Missionaries spreading Christianity not illegal unless it is against public order, health or morality: Tamil Nadu to Supreme Court

Article 25 of the Constitution confers on every person the right to propagate and preach his religious belief to others as long as the same is not against public order, morality or health, the State of Tamil Nadu told the Supreme Court. .Only religious conversion through intimidation, deception, threat, luring through gifts or by way of black magic or superstition amounts to injustice and exploitation, it was submitted. Hence, acts of missionaries spreading Christianity by itself is not illegal or unconstitutional, it was submitted."Article 25 of the Constitution of India guarantees every citizen the right to propagate his religion. Therefore, the acts of missionaries spreading Christianity by itself cannot be seen as something against law," a counter affidavit filed by the State before the apex court stated. But if their act of spreading their religion is against public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of Part III of the Constitution it has to be viewed seriously, the State added.The TN government maintained that as a secular nation, every citizen of India has the right to freedom of religion i.e. right to follow any religion."As one can find so many religions being practiced in India, the constitution guarantees to every citizen the liberty to follow the religion of their choice. According to this fundamental right, every citizen has the opportunity to practice and spread his religion peacefully. The right to have faith in a particular religion can be traced under Article 21 of the Constitution and it is an inviolable right," the government submitted.The affidavit was filed in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay against religious conversion. .The State in its affidavit also questioned the maintainability of the petition on the ground that it is a "religiously motivated petition" since the petitioner is a member of BJP and is using the court to abuse certain religions and seek orders in tune with his policies.Besides, he had filed similar petitions earlier before the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court which came to be withdrawn but he did not disclose the same while filing the present petition."The petition contains abusive and intemperate language and therefore it deserves to be dismissed. It is respectfully submitted that the petitioner has deliberately not mentioned the details of the similar writ petitions filed before the Hon 'ble High Court of Delhi and this Hon 'ble Court," the TN government said.The petitioner himself belongs to the ruling political party having served as its spokesperson and as a leader of its Delhi unit in the past and his frivolous petitions instituted in the name of public interest, often inspired by his party's agenda, have come under the Supreme Court's criticism in the past, it was submitted.He is thus attempting to use the device of PIL to camouflage a thinly veiled attempt at furthering a particular agenda, the State's affidavit underscored. "The lack of bonafide in the petitioner's actions is only compounded by the fact that the petitioner does not, at any point in the Petition, disclose his present or past ties with a particular ruling party," the affidavit further pointed out.Moreover, the petitioner has not come before this Court with clean hands since a criminal case punishable under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code is pending against him, it was stated.Ashwini Upadhyay's petition "not only attacks a specific community with intentions to divide the society through hate, fuelling religious intolerance in the country", but is also filed with the sole intention to defame a particular faith by making shocking allegations without providing any supporting data or document, the government alleged..Specifically on allegations against the Tamil Nadu government about forceful religious conversions, the State maintained that no such incidents have been reported in the past many years and that the allegations raised by the petitioner relate to only "certain tribal areas in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and India's Hindi belt." .Regard Upadhyay's claims about suicide of minor girl Lavanya in Tamil Nadu wherein it was alleged that she was forced to convert by the Christian institution where she was studying, the Tamil Nadu government submitted that the CBI is already probing the same and the prayer made by Upadhyay in that regard is infructuous. .The State government also submitted that anti-conversion laws are prone to misuse against minorities and there is no data on convictions under the various anti conversions laws of the States..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.