The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked a Muslim man, who had converted to Hinduism to marry a Hindu woman, to prove that his conversion was genuine. The court asked him to file an affidavit stating the same after the woman’s father moved the court alleging that the man’s conversion to Hinduism was a shame using forged documents and he had reverted to Islam soon after the marriage.
The incident is from Chhattisgarh where the Muslim man had married a Hindu girl in February last year after allegedly converting to Hinduism. Soon after the marriage, the father had lodged a complaint with the Supreme Court saying that the conversion was fake, and the girl had also expressed her willingness to go back to her parents. Accordingly, the court had passed an order and the girl went to her parental home.
But the man had filed a complaint with the police, and the police took the girl away and put in Sakhi centre. Later in High Court, the girl made a statement wiling to live with the man. When the High Court allowed her to live with her husband, her father approached the Supreme Court. The father said that the girl is not in a fit medical condition, and she is on medication for a long time because of depression and suicidal tendencies.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the father, said that the conversion was sham as the man had reverted to Islam after the marriage, and said that the court should examine the issue as there is a racket in the name of inter-religious marriages.
But the bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah suggested that the religion of the man does not matter as long as his wife does not suffer. They said the court is for inter-faith and inter-caste marriages, and not against such kind of living together. The court said there is nothing wrong in inter-religious or inter-caste marriages but the interest of girls must be protected.
Emphasising that the must be a loyal husband a great lover, the court explained that they asked the man to prove his good intentions by filing an affidavit, to secure the future and safety of the girl. ‘We want to know whether he has converted for marriage or otherwise, has he changed his name? Has he taken all legal steps to change the name?’ the court asked in its oral order.
The man’s counsel senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi said that the court can’t intervene the choice of a woman to decide with whom she wants to live her life with. He said that the court can summon the girl to know ger response.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the girl, submitted that she wanted live with her husband.
Hearing all the arguments, the Supreme Court asked the man to submit his affidavit. The court also allowed the intervention application of the girl. The court also sought reply from the state government on the issue.
