The court observed that “conversion just for the purpose of marriage is unacceptable”.Dismissing a petition filed by a married couple seeking direction to others to not interfere in their married life, the Allahabad High Court has observed that conversion “just for the purpose of marriage” is unacceptable.
The court made the comments after finding that a Muslim woman had converted to Hinduism, and a month later married as per Hindu rituals.
In an order passed on September 23, Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi stated that keeping in view the facts and circumstances, “this court is not inclined to interfere in the matter under Article 226 of Constitution of India”. Consequently, the court said, “the writ petition is dismissed”.
The court stated that through writ petition, the petitioners have prayed for a direction on the respondents to not interfere with their peaceful married life by adopting coercive measures.
“This much is reflected from the record that the first petitioner is Muslim by birth and she converted her religion from Muslim to Hindu on 29.6.2020. The petitioners solemnized their marriage according to Hindu rites and rituals on 31.7.2020,” according to the order. “The court has perused the record in question and found that the first petitioner converted her religion on 29.6.2020 and just after one month, they solemnized their marriage on 31.7.2020, which clearly reveals to this court that said conversion has taken place only for the purpose of marriage.”
In its judgment, the court referred to the 2014 order in Noor Jahan Begum, alias Anjali Mishra, and Another versus the state of UP and others, along with connected cases decided by same court on December 16, 2014. The court observed that “conversion just for the purpose of marriage is unacceptable”.
Quoting from the relevant portion of the 2014 judgment, the order stated: “Applying the above-noted principles as laid down in various judgments and mandate of The Holy QURAN in Sura II Ayat 221, I find that alleged conversion of petitioner No.1, girl in each of the writ petitions, cannot be said to be bonafide or valid.
“The religion of petitioner No.1 in each of the writ petitions was converted at the instance of the petitioner No.2 (boys) to marry with the girl. The petitioner girls have stated that they do not know about Islam. In the writ petition, as well as in the statements on oath made before this court…they all stated that the boy got their religion converted with sole purpose to marry with her.
“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,” Justice Tripathi said.