Is the Anti-conversion law going to be implemented all over India?

 Nempal Singh (Advocate)

Date: 22/11/2022

    Under the recent directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 14 November 2022, it can now be inferred that a Central Anti-conversion Law can be implemented in the entire country. It is noteworthy that recently a petition was filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court by BJP leader Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay. In the petition, it was said that cases of illegal conversions are increasing in India. In his petition, Upadhyay said that SC/ST and illiterate and poor people are being converted on a large scale by allurement, threat, force, pressure, and other illegal methods. This is a serious problem for the whole country and this type of activity needs to be stopped as soon as possible. While hearing this petition, a bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, consisting of Hon'ble Justice M.R. Shah and Justice Hima Kohli, observed that if the cases of such conversions are increasing in India. Then it can be a threat to the security of India and to the fundamental rights of the citizens of India. The Hon'ble Supreme Court issued a notice to the Central Government, saying that the Central Government should clarify its stand on this issue. It also asked what steps are being taken by the Central Government to stop illegal conversions. The Hon'ble Supreme Court also said that although every citizen has the right to freedom of religion in the country, this right is not about force or allurement or any illegal means of conversion.

    The Hon'ble Supreme Court also said that it is the constitutional right of every citizen to convert voluntarily in this country. He or she can convert and propagate his faith peacefully. Further, the Court said that this country is a secular country, and every citizen can choose his/her faith voluntarily. However, it should not be by force, coercion, or any other illegal means.

    The Hon'ble Supreme Court has given time till 22 November 2022 to the Central Government to present its stand in this context. It has fixed the hearing of this petition for 28 November 2022. In the petition of 2022, filed by BJP Leader Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, the approach of the Supreme Court is completely different from the hearing of the petition filed by Upadhyay in April 2021, where the petition was refused acceptance by Hon'ble Justice Rohinton F. Nariman. It is significant to mention here that in that petition, Upadhyay demanded the implementation of the Prohibition of Illegal Conversion of Religion Act in the whole country. However, Hon'ble Justice Rohinton F. Nariman warned Upadhyay and instructed him to withdraw the petition. Upadhyay was warned that such a petition could harm the country and that he may incur heavy costs. This time around, as a result of the petition filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay in 2022, the opinion and approach of the Supreme Court are clear that it is now taking a strict stand on illegal conversions. We must understand very carefully whether the central government can be forced to implement a new anti-conversion law throughout the whole country if there is enough pressure? This is a big question, and it will be clear only by the central government's clarification to be filed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court on November 22, 2022, regarding what steps the Central Government is taking in the context of illegal conversion. However, the probability of the implementation of a Central Anti-Conversion law by the Central Government cannot be denied.

The possible impact of the Central Anti-Conversion Law on Christian faith:

    It is necessary to make it clear that at this moment a total of two religious matters are pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court. In these matters, it is too early to say anything. It is worth noting that in the year 2022, public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by the Christian community. In this litigation, the central government was held accountable for the poor law and order situation. This resulted in increasing incidents against the people of the Christian community in India. It was also pointed out that the Christian community is being targeted for their faith and false cases are being filed. In this context, the Hon'ble Supreme Court issued a notice to the Central Government. On the other hand, the Central Government flatly denied the contentions in the PIL. Therefore, in this PIL, a total of eight states were ordered to investigate the cases at their own level. This includes Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Right now, all of these states are being investigated. On the other hand, a petition related to illegal conversion has been filed by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay. In this petition, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has sought answers and clarification from the Central Government and has asked it to clarify its position. Now it is also necessary to understand that if a law prohibiting illegal conversion is implemented by the central government in the entire country, then potentially that central law prohibiting illegal conversion can be misused against the People of Christian Faith as alleged by the Christian Community.

    Now it is necessary to understand from the point of view of the law that there is a total of 11 such states in this country in which the law prohibiting illegal conversion has been implemented. In most of the States among 11 states, the most important point in these laws is that, if any particular person is accused of conversion, then in that situation only the accused will be the person who will prove the facts before the court of Law that he was not involved in the such conversion and the allegations were fake. There was no attempt to convert anyone in an illegal way. In simple words, it can be said that it is not for the complainant to prove that the accused tried to convert illegally but it is for the accused to prove that the allegation against him is false. Whereas under the general criminal law of this country, the accused cannot be presumed to be fully guilty until it is proved by the complainant or the State that the allegations made against the accused are true and sufficient evidence are available against the accused and the case is proved in the court of law without any ambiguity. But under the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, it is totally opposite from the common rule of criminal law. It is up to the accused person to prove that the charge or allegation made against him is false. Now if we talk about In this context, then it can potentially directly affect the people related to the Christian faith because in general the person associated with Christian faith follows the words of the Bible and prays for others and wishes for the welfare of the other person. Now if this thing is looked at carefully then people belonging to the Christian faith can easily be targeted by the persons of right wings because Bible or Christian faith teaches the person with Christian faith to pray not only for themselves but for every person. Bible or Christian faith teaches every Christian should pray for others and without praying for other people, the life of a Christian cannot be considered successful. Now it is also important to understand that the Bible teaches a Christian to pray for a sick person and a Christian considers it his duty to pray for any who is in ill health. Bible also teaches about helping others and loving one another and even our enemies and that is how a Christian expresses his love to other people. Because of this, a Christian only intends to express this kind of love and kindness that he is doing to others, the other person should also behave in the same way with each other, and he spontaneously talks about his faith when asked by the other and tells the other person about the word of God which is his fundamental right under article 25 of the Indian constitution. But, unfortunately, the conduct of love and cooperation towards others is being given the form of conversion by some religious fanatics and when the person with Christian faith is falsely implicated with allegations for forcible or illegal conversion then the onus lies only upon the accused person for proving the fact that he was not involved in such conversion. The burden shifted on him to prove the fact that he had only told another person about his faith and that the allegation against him is false but unfortunately the false allegation of conversion by some fanatics is alleged to have been made against the Christian. A false case is filed against him.

 

Conclusively, it cannot be denied that a Central Anti-Conversion Law can be implemented in the entire country by the Central Government, and it can have a direct impact on the people belonging to the Christian faith or on the Christian Community at large in this country and the same can be misused against the Christian Faith as alleged by the Christian Community.

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Note: The purpose of this article is to make a legal analysis of the likely implementation of the Central Anti-Conversion Law. This article has nothing to do with any religious organization, nor is the intention of this article to hurt anyone's religious sentiments. This is clearly nothing but legal analysis based on facts and sources.