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Conversion for benefits is fraud on Constitution: SC

By, New Delhi
Nov 27, 2024 05:36 AM IST

Citing the petitioner’s claim to SC status despite her baptism and practising Christianity, the court found her dual assertions untenable.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that religious conversions motivated solely by the prospect of availing certain benefits, such as reservations in employment, are impermissible, calling such actions a “fraud on the Constitution”.

A view of the Supreme Court of India. (Hindustan Times)
A view of the Supreme Court of India. (Hindustan Times)

While acknowledging the fundamental right to freely practise and profess a religion under Article 25 of the Constitution, a bench of justices Pankaj Mithal and R Mahadevan emphasised that genuine conversions are driven by sincere belief, not by ulterior motives.

“One converts to a different religion when he/she is genuinely inspired by its principles, tenets, and spiritual thoughts...However, if the purpose of conversion is largely to derive the benefits of reservation but not with any actual belief in the other religion, the same cannot be permitted,” it held.

The judgment highlighted the broader implications of such misuse, stating that granting reservation benefits to individuals without genuine claims undermines the policy’s intent to uplift historically disadvantaged communities. “The extension of benefits of reservation to people with such ulterior motive will only defeat the social ethos of the policy of reservation,” the court said.

The judgment came as the bench upheld a ruling by the Madras high court denying a Scheduled Caste (SC) community certificate to a woman who was born a Christian and also practised Christianity but later sought to reclaim her Hindu identity for reservation benefits.

Citing the woman’s claim to SC status despite her baptism and practising Christianity, the court found her dual assertions untenable. “The conferment of Scheduled Caste communal status to the appellant, who is a Christian by religion, but claims to be still embracing Hinduism only for the purpose of availing reservation in employment, would go against the very object of reservation and would amount to fraud on the Constitution,” the judgment maintained.

In arriving at its conclusion, the court leaned on precedent, particularly the Kerala high court’s ruling in Sapna Jacob, Minor Vs State of Kerala (1993), which held that while courts cannot test the depth of one’s religious beliefs, they can scrutinise the intentions behind a purported conversion. “A court can find the true intention of men lying behind their acts,” noted the bench, adding that “a pretended conversion as a means to some further end” cannot be allowed.

The bench also referred to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1964, which confines SC status to individuals practising Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism. It stated that claims of reverting to Hinduism post-conversion must be substantiated by concrete evidence, such as a public declaration or adherence to prescribed conversion rituals.

The woman, born to Christian parents and baptised shortly after birth, claimed to be a Hindu to avail of reservation for a government job since her father was born a Hindu. Despite holding an SC certificate, an inquiry revealed her active practice of Christianity, including regular church attendance and baptism. Additionally, the court noted that her parents were married under Christian rites, and there was no evidence of her or her family’s reconversion to Hinduism.

“The appellant and her family, if they really intended to get themselves converted, ought to have done some positive act to evince such conversion rather than a meek claim to be practising Hinduism,” noted the bench, dismissing the woman’s appeal against the January 2023 judgment of the high court.

To be sure, India has a long history of anti-conversion laws which can be dated back to pre-Independence era. While the British did not enact any law, many princely states did so to restrict missionary activity. Some examples of such legislation are: The Raigarh State Conversion Act, 1936, Patna Freedom of Religion Act, 1942, Sarguja State Apostasy Act, 1945, Udaipur State Anti-Conversion Act, 1946. Further, specific laws against conversion to Christianity were enacted in Bikaner, Jodhpur, Kalahandi and Kota.

After Independence, in 1954, Parliament took up for consideration the Indian Conversion (Regulation and Registration) Bill. Six years later, another law, the Backward Communities (Religious Protection) Bill, 1960, was proposed to stop conversion. Both bills failed in Parliament for want of support. The last attempt made at a central legislation was in 1978 when an All India Freedom of Religion Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Morarji Desai’s Janata Party government. However, it was never discussed, and was dropped after the government fell in July 1979.

Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh passed anti-conversion laws in 1967, 1968 and 1978 respectively. Later, similar laws have been passed by at least seven more states, including Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

A constitution bench in Rev Stainislaus Vs State of Madhya Pradesh (1977) upheld the anti-conversion laws of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, saying freedom to propagate one’s religion, as stipulated under Article 25 (1), did not grant a fundamental right to convert another person. The bench ruled that a “purposive conversion” would impinge on the “freedom of conscience” guaranteed to all citizens. Similarly, in Hadiya Vs Ashokan (2018), the top court reinforced an individual’s right to choose their faith but stressed that the choice must be free of coercion or deceit.

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