Himachal Govt’s Anti Conversion Law To Prevent Inter-Religion Marriages

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Why it is in the news?

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij recently said that his government is considering a law against forced religious conversions.
He alsosought information about such a law already in force in Himachal Pradesh, during a Vidhan Sabha discussion.
WHY?
In response to the recent Nikita Tomar murder case in Faridabad’s

A 20-year-old woman was shot dead in Haryana’s Faridabad district, in October last week.
This gave rise to religious tensions on social media.

The Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954, was enacted to enable the marriage of couples from different religions, who preferred a civil wedding.
The law has 2 difficult features

Couples intending to marry, should give notice to the ‘marriage officer’ of the district in which one of them had resided for at least 30 days.
The notice will have to be entered in a ‘Marriage Notice Book’ and a copy of it displayed in the office.
If one partner is not a permanent resident of the district, the marriage officer has to send a copy to the district where that partner has permanent residence.
The notice shall be displayed in that district office too.
The law also provides for objections to the marriage.
Any person can object to the marriage within 30 days of the publication of the notice, on the ground that it contravenes the conditions for a valid marriage.
The marriage officer has to inquire into the objection and give a decision within 30 days.
If he refuses permission for the marriage, an appeal can be made to the district court. The court’s decision will be final.

The Act also lays down that, when a member of an undivided family who professes Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain religions, gets married under SMA – it results in his or her “severance” from the family.

These features of the law, place a question mark on the safety and privacy of those intending to marry across religions.
Many settle for marriage under the personal law of one religion, with the other opts for religious conversion.
While conversion to Islam and Christianity has formal means, there is no prescribed ceremony for conversion to Hinduism.

The Allahabad High Court, recently, declined to grant police protection to a couple – of whom the bride was a Muslim who converted to Hinduism.
The court’s judgement cited past precedents that said conversion should be based on change of heart, and should not be solely for the purpose of marriage.
In July 2020, the Kerala Registration department decided to discontinue the practice of uploading marriage notices on its websites.
Resulted from complaints, that these were being misused for communal propaganda.
The notices will be displayed on the notice boards of the offices concerned.

Himachal Pradesh had already enacted a law in 2007 which prohibited conversion from one religion to another by force or fraud.
Last year, the Himachal Pradesh assembly passed the Freedom of Religion Bill, 2019.
Similar to Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018.

According to the Act, no one can convert or attempt to convert another other person, from one religion to another, by force, inducement, or by marriage.
The Act does not cover a person re-converting to his “parent religion”.
Any marriage done for the sole purpose of religious conversion may be declared null and void by a family court on a petition by either party.

All offences under the Act are cognizable and non-bailable.
Punishment – prison term ranging from 1 to 5 years, along with a fine.
In case the victim is a minor, woman or member of a Scheduled Caste or Tribe, the imprisonment may extend upto 7 years.

Under Article 25 – Freedom of Conscience and Free Profession, Practice and Propagation of Religion – a person has the Right to propagate one’s religious beliefs to others.
It does not include a right to convert another person to one’s own religion.
Forcible conversions impinge on the ‘freedom of conscience’ guaranteed to all the persons alike.

Under the Act, anyone who wishes to convert to any other religion will have to give a declaration to the district authorities at least one month in advance, specifying that he/she is doing so as per his/her “own volition or free consent”.
The religious priest who performs the conversion ceremony, also has to inform the authorities at least one month in advance.
The district magistrate will then conduct an inquiry regarding the “intention, purpose and cause of proposed conversion”.
Failure to declare the conversion in advance can also result in an imprisonment of upto two years.

Such ‘Anti conversion laws’ laws would be violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality, equality of opportunity and equal protection of the law and no discrimination on the ground of caste, creed, colour, and religion.