Right to freedom of religion doesn't include converting people to a particular religion: Centre to SC

New Delhi, November 28: Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the right to freedom of religion does not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion.

It is "cognizant of the gravity and the seriousness" of the issue, Centre submitted in its affidavit filed on a PIL claiming that fraudulent and deceitful religious conversion is rampant across the country. Such issue of conversion shall be "taken up in all seriousness by the Union of India and appropriate steps shall be taken as the Central government is cognizant of the menace", the Centre added.

"The right to freedom of religion certainly does not include the right to convert an individual through fraud, deception, coercion, allurement or other such means," it further read.

The central government also stated that nine states have passed enactments to limit this practice over the years. Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Haryana are among the states that have conversion legislation in place, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, "such enactments are necessary for protecting cherished rights of vulnerable sections of the society including women and economically and socially backward classes."

It stated that the right to religious freedom, and more importantly, the right to consciousness of all citizens of the country, is an extremely cherished and valuable right that should be protected by the executive and legislature.

As the case was being heard, a bench led by Justice MR Shah stated that the issue of forced religious conversion is "very serious" and asked the Centre to file a detailed affidavit to clarify its stance.

It asked the Centre to file an affidavit with instructions from the State governments.

The bench has now posted the matter for hearing on December 5.