Allahabad High Court, while rejecting the bail of the accused of forced conversion to Islam and sexual exploitation, said that the purpose of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021 is to guarantee religious freedom to all individuals, which reflects the social harmony of India. The purpose of this Act is to maintain the spirit of secularism in India.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal’s bench further said that the Constitution gives every person the right to believe, follow and propagate his religion, but this individual right does not translate into a collective right to convert religion because religious freedom is equally available to both the person converting and the person being converted.
What is the whole matter?
Related news
- Kashmir’s Lal Chowk painted in the colours of the tricolour, Independence Day fervour seen all across Srinagar
- Kolkata rape-murder case: ‘Our dreams were shattered in one night’, father reveals what was written in daughter’s diary
- Independence Day 2024 Live Streaming: When and where to watch PM Modi’s address on Independence Day? Here are the direct links
- Independence Day 2024: These 10 British brands were once the pride of the British, today Indians rule them!
- Who is 1989 batch IAS Govind Mohan, who has been appointed as the new Home Secretary
The High Court made this remark while refusing to grant bail to a man named Azim. The petitioner, Azim, has been booked under Sections 323/504/506 IPC and Section 3/5(1) Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 for forcibly converting a girl to Islam and sexually exploiting her. The applicant-accused filed a petition in the High Court claiming that he has been falsely implicated. He claimed that the informant girl, who was in a relationship with him, had voluntarily left her house and had already confirmed her marriage in the statements recorded under Sections 161 and 164 CrPC in the related case.
On the other hand, the public prosecutor, while opposing the bail of the accused, cited the statement of the informant under Section 164 CrPC, in which it was alleged that pressure was exerted for conversion to Islam and the marriage was conducted without conversion.
In the background of these facts, the court said that the informant had clearly stated in his statement recorded under Section 164 CrPC that the petitioner and his family members were forcing him to convert to Islam. He was also forced to watch animal sacrifice on the day of Bakrid and cook and eat non-vegetarian food.
The court also noted that the applicant had allegedly kept her captive and the family members had forced her to perform certain Islamic rituals, which were not acceptable to her. Further, the court held that the FIR’s version of the statement recorded under Section 164 CrPC was upheld. Importantly, the court also held that the petitioner could not bring any material on record to show that an application was filed under Section 8 of the Act of 2021 to convert the girl to Islam before the marriage/nikah took place.
After looking at the facts and circumstances, the court dismissed the bail application of the petitioner, holding that there was prima facie violation of sections 3 and 8 of the 2021 Act, which is punishable under section 5 of the 2021 Act.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)