The Allahabad High Court, while rejecting a Hindu-Muslim couple’s plea for the protection of their life and liberty, ruled that the UP Conversion Law also applies to live-in couples.
Justice Renu Agarwal stated this while refusing protection to a Hindu man and Muslim woman who married earlier this year following Arya Samaj traditions. The petitioners did not change their religion. The Court stated that interfaith couples must apply for conversion as per the anti-conversion law.
The court ruled that registration of a religious conversion is essential not just for marriage purposes, but also for marriage-like relationships.
“Therefore, Conversion Act applies to relationships in the nature of marriage or live-in- relationship,” the Court said in its decision dated 5th March.
The court’s decision came in view of section 3(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. “No person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any other person from one religion to another by use or practice of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage nor shall any person abet, convince or conspire such conversion,” section 3(1) of the UP anti-conversion Act states.
In this case, a 24-year-old Muslim woman married a 23-year-old Hindu man on 1st January. Their online application to register their marriage was pending. They approached the court for police protection because they were concerned that their life and liberty were in danger.
The state denied their request, noting that they had not applied for religious conversion. It was also asserted that a Muslim woman cannot marry a Hindu man in accordance with Arya Samaj’s rites under the Hindu Marriage Act.
#LiveInRelationship #LiveInRelation
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) March 13, 2024
Observation of the #AllahabadHighCourt 👇 pic.twitter.com/pH5XbmzzIg
While denying the petitioners’ request for relief, the court highlighted that the 2021 anti-conversion statute expressly states that religious conversion is required not only in circumstances of inter-faith marriages but also in a relationship of the form of marriage.
The court also remarked that there was no dispute to the petitioners’ relationship because their parents had not filed any police complaints. However, it dismissed the interfaith couple’s request for protection since they failed to register any religious conversion.
“In view of the discussions as above, it is not considered desirable that the relationship of the petitioners be protected in contravention of the statutory provisions of law passed by the legislature,” the court said.
Additionally, in the same order, the Court stated that no one has the right to interfere with the two adults’ personal liberty.
“In the relationship of marriage or in the nature of live-in- relationship there must be two consenting adults human beings. The concept of gotra, caste and religion is left a way back,” the court stated.
