On September 23, 2020, a single judge bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi of Allahabad High Court dismissed a couple’s writ petition that sought a direction from the court that their relatives would not interfere in their married life by ‘adopting coercive measures.’ Referring to this order, the Allahabad High Court said that religious conversion—just for the purpose of marriage—is not acceptable, and dismissed the petition by a couple, seeking protection three months after their marriage.
The court found that the first petitioner had converted her religion on June 29, 2020, and her marriage was solemnised on July 31, 2020, just after one month of conversion. This clearly reveals that the said conversion took place just for the sake of marriage. The judge also referred to a 2014 order by the same court that had proceeded to observe that conversion just for the purpose of marriage is unacceptable. The court said the petitioners were free to appear before the concerned Magistrate in their area and record their statements.
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2014 Case
The judgement in the case of Smt. Noor Jahan Begum @ Anjali Mishra & Anr. v. State of U.P. & Ors.) says, “Thus conversion of religion to Islam, in the present set of facts, of the girls without their faith and belief in Islam and at the instance of the boys, solely for the purpose of marriage, cannot be said to be a valid conversion to Islam religion. These marriages (Nikah) are against the mandate in Sura II Ayat 221 of the Holy Quran.”
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Courtesy: ndtv.com