News Analysis India

Tag: Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act

  • Gujarat to move Supreme Court against HC stay on conversion law sections: Deputy CM Nitin Patel

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on Friday said the state government will move the Supreme Court against the High Court’s last week order staying certain sections of the contentious law against religious conversion, including its “core” provision.

    Among other sections, which mainly deal with religious conversion through marriage, the Gujarat High Court had also stayed the operation of section 5, which according to the BJP government, is the “core” of the entire Act and a stay on it effectively stays the entire legislation.

    Some provisions of the Gujarat Freedom Of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021, have been challenged in the HC.

    “The Gujarat government brought this law, popularly known as anti-love jihad law, to save daughters from anti-social elements who try to trap these girls by lying about their income, lifestyle and religion. Girls learn only after marriage that the man belongs to another religion and earns nothing,” Patel told reporters here.

    “Since some people have challenged the provisions of the new law, the High Court has recently put a stay on the law. However, after consulting legal experts and our Advocate General, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has decided to challenge this stay in the Supreme Court,” Patel added.

    The 2021 law, which penalises forcible or fraudulent religious conversion through marriage, was notified by the BJP government on June 15 this year.

    The original Act was in force since 2003 and its amended version was passed in the Assembly in April.

    Last month, the Gujarat chapter of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind filed a petition in the HC, claiming that some of the amended sections of the new law were unconstitutional.

    On August 19, the high court stayed sections 3, 4, 4A to 4C, 5, 6 and 6A of the amended Act pending further hearing, saying if an interfaith marriage is done without any force, allurement or fraudulent means, such marriages cannot be termed as “marriages for the purposes of unlawful conversion” as defined in these sections.

    While other sections deal with conversion through marriage, section 5 of the Act mandates that religious priests must take prior permission from the district magistrate for converting a person from one faith to another.

    Moreover, the one who got converted also needs to “send an intimation” to the district magistrate in a prescribed form.

    Non-adherence to these rules would attract upto one year of jail term.

    On Wednesday, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi had moved the HC to remove section 5 from the stay order.

    During a hearing on Thursday, Trivedi, on behalf of the state government, told a division bench that section 5 of the Act was there ever since the original law was enacted in 2003 and it has nothing to do with marriage per se.

    He tried to convince the judges that a stay on section 5 would actually stay the application of the entire law itself, and no one would approach the authorities for seeking permission before getting converted.

    However, the division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Biren Vaishnav had turned down the state government’s plea seeking modification of its August 19 order.

  • Gujarat govt moves HC seeking removal of stay on section 5 of anti-conversion law

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government on Wednesday approached the state high court seeking rectification in its recent order in which it stayed the operation of section 5 of the new anti-conversion law.

    The government told the Gujarat High Court that section 5 of the Gujarat Freedom Of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021 has nothing to do with marriage per se.

    The court agreed to hear the government’s contention.

    On August 19, the high court had stayed sections 3, 4, 4A to 4C, 5, 6 and 6A of the 2021 amended Act pending further hearing, saying that they “shall not operate merely because a marriage is solemnised by a person of one religion with a person of another religion without force or by allurement or by fraudulent means and such marriages cannot be termed as marriages for the purposes of unlawful conversion.”

    The state government approached the division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Biren Vaishnav on Wednesday, seeking its permission for circulation of the note for rectification of its order regarding section 5 of the amended Act, which has been challenged through two petitions.

    Advocate General Kamal Trivedi told the court that section 5 has nothing to do with marriage and it is permission for conversion, which people have been seeking for the last 18 years under the Gujarat Freedom Of Religion Act, 2003.

    “My Lords have recorded my argument, I said that per se marriage cannot be prohibited. Section 5 has nothing to do with it. It talks about whoever wants to convert have to take permission, and people have been taking permission since 2003,” he said.

    He said that section 5 does not use the word “marriage” and it deals with permission from the District Magistrate for conversion, either before or after marriage or even in cases without marriage.

    “Virtually, section 5 has to stay today, even when conversion is voluntary. If I want to marry a Muslim boy, people are coming forward and taking permission for conversion, before or after marriage, and even without marriage,” he argued.

    The court granted permission to hear the case saying that the lawyers for the petitioners should be informed about it.

    The petitioners had sought interim relief in as much as the amended section 3 of the 2003 Act prohibits marriage on a presumption that such a marriage is for the purposes of conversion.

    The concept of marriage has no bearing on conversion, Trivedi had argued.

    He had also argued that marriage per se is not prohibited, but a conversion actuated by fraud or allurement or a forcible marriage.

    He had said that the focal point is conversion by force or a fraudulent marriage or marriage by allurement.

    He said the purpose of the Act is to prohibit unlawful conversion.

    Section 5 of the law mandates that religious priests must take prior permission from the district magistrate for converting any person from one religion to another.

    Moreover, the one who got converted also needs to “send an intimation” to the DM in a prescribed form.

    The Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021, which penalises forcible or fraudulent religious conversion through marriage, was notified by the state government on June 15.

    Similar laws have also been enacted by the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

    Last month, the Gujarat chapter of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind filed a petition, claiming that some of the amended sections of the state’s new law were unconstitutional.

  • Gujarat’s new anti-conversion law challenged in HC, matter to be listed after two to three days

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: Provisions of a new Gujarat law which penalises forcible or fraudulent religious conversion through marriage has been challenged in the state High Court, where it was mentioned before a division bench on Monday.

    The Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021, was notified in the state on June 15.

    The matter was mentioned before the division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Biren Vaishnav for circulation.

    Allowing the same, the court said it will be listed after two to three days.

    Lawyer MTM Hakim, who represents the petitioner challenging the provisions of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, declined to share any more detail at this stage.

    The state government had passed the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill in the Assembly during the Budget session, and Governor Acharya Devvrat gave his assent to it on May 22.

    It came into force on June 15, and since then several FIRs have been filed in different police stations of Gujarat under the controversial law.

    The first FIR was filed at a police station in Vadodara against one Samir Qureshi (26) for allegedly luring a woman of another religion by posing as a Christian on social media in 2019, as per the police.

    The Act has stringent punishment for forcible religious conversion through marriage and attracts imprisonment of 3 to 5 years and up to Rs 2 lakh fine.

    If the victim is a minor, a woman, a Dalit or tribal, then the offenders may be punished for a jail term of 4 to 7 years and a fine of no less than Rs 3 lakh.

    For an institution or an organisation found flouting the law, the person in charge during the time of the offence shall invite punishment no less than three years extending up to ten years, as per the Act.

    “The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003 seeks to deal with religious conversion through allurement, force or by misrepresentation or by any other fraudulent means.”

    “However, there are episodes of religious conversion promising better lifestyle, divine blessings and impersonation. There is an emerging trend in which women are lured to marriage for the purpose of religious conversion,” the government had said while introducing the amendment to the Act.