No moral policing if willingly converted: HC

 No moral policing if willingly converted: HC

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Ashutosh.Shukla@timesgroup.com

31.01.2022

Bhopal/Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh high court has ruled that no “moral policing” can be allowed when two adults decide to live together by way of marriage or a live-in relationship of their own will.

With this, the bench of Justice Nandita Dubey rejected the argument of the counsel for the MP government that under the provisions of Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, conversion for the sake of marriage is not legal; and marriage so performed is le-gally null and void and the girl should be sent to Nari Niketan for 'rehabilitation'.

The decision came in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by Guljar Ahmed, who had married a Hindu girl, Arti Sahu, who converted to Islam but was then taken away by her parents to her hometown, Varanasi. Justice Dubey directed police to hand the woman back to the petitioner, as she wished, and see to it that they reach home safely and are not threatened thereafter by her parents.

‘Ensure that corpus & petitioner are not threatened’

Guljar Khan had filed a habeas corpus petition, saying he and Arti had married in Maharashtra and she had willingly converted to Islam, but her parents had taken her away by force and have illegally detained her. On the orders of the judge, the 19-year-old woman was produced in court through video conferencing. In her statement, she told the court that she had willingly married Khan and converted to Islam. She said her parents and grandparents had forcibly taken her away to Banaras, where she was beaten up and threatened constantly to give a statement against her husband. The court pointed out that she has categorically stated she was not forced into conversion and whatever she has done was as per her own wishes. The judge noted that the government counsel had vehemently argued that any marriage performed in contravention to section 3 of the Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, shall be deemed null and void. The government counsel said that the Act provides that no person shall convert for the purpose of marriage and any conversion in contravention of this shall be deemed null and void.

The court, however, pointed out that the petitioner and his wife are adults. “Be that as it may, the petitioner and the corpus (woman) are major. No moral policing can be allowed in such matters where two major persons are willing to stay together whether by way of marriage or in a live-in relationship, when the party to that arrangement is doing it willingly and not forced into it,” Justice Dubey said.

“The corpus before this court has clearly stated that she has married the petitioner and wants to stay with him. She is a major and her age is not disputed by any of the parties. The Constitution gives the right to every major citizen of this country to live her or his life as per her or his own wishes. Under the circumstances, the objection raised by the counsel for the state and her prayer to send the corpus to Nari Niketan is rejected,” the judge ordered.

“The police authorities are also directed to see that in future, the corpus and petitioner are not threatened by the parents of the corpus,” the court said.TNN