Earlier verdict on conversion for marriage purpose not good law: HC

The Allahabad High Court has struck down its previous judgement in which it held that religious conversion just for the purpose of marriage was unacceptable The court said that essentially it does not matter whether a conversion is valid or not The right of two adults to live together cannot be encroached upon by the state or othersTo disregard the choice of a person who is of the age of majority would not only be antithetic to the freedom of choice of a grown up individual but would also be a threat to the concept of unity in diversity court saidThe right to choose a partner irrespective of caste creed or religion is intrinsic to the constitutional right to life and personal liberty the Allahabad high court held adding that two previous judgments that objected to religious conversion for the purpose of marriage did not lay down good lawThe decision by the twojudge bench was delivered on November 11 but made public on MondayThe decision may now pose a legal problem for the Uttar Pradesh government which is planning a law to regulate interfaith relationships on the basis of the two previous judgments that were both delivered by singlejudge benchesThe bench comprising Justices Pankaj Naqvi and Justice Vivek Agarwal was hearing a petition by a Muslim man and his wife who converted from Hinduism to Islam to quash a police complaint against them by the womans fatherThe petitioners contended they were both majors and competent to choose their life partnersThe court agreed with the petitioners Salamat Ansari and Priyanka Kharwar aka Alia both residents of Kushinagar districtThe judges held that any interference in a personal relationship would constitute a serious encroachment on the right to freedom of choiceWe fail to understand that if the law permits two persons even of the same sex to live together peacefully then neither any individual nor a family nor even state can have objection to relationship of two major individuals who out of their own free will are living together the verdict saidThe judgment also contradicted two previous judgments one delivered in 2014 and the other in 2020 that said that religious conversion only for the sake of marriage was not valid under lawWe hold the previous judgments as not laying good law None of these judgments dealt with the issue of life and liberty of two matured individuals in choosing a partner or their right to freedom of choice as to with whom they would like to live the bench saidShortly after the high court passed the judgment in the second case in October chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced that his government was planning a law to regulate love jihad a term used by rightwing Hindu activists to describe relationships between Hindu women and Muslim menKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever