"Coercive conversions not hypothetical but concrete and recurring," Victim of fraudulent religious conversion moves SC
The applicant belonging to a Scheduled Caste Hindu community has stated that he was subjected to an organized religious conversion conspiracy which is directly in violation to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.
Supreme Court has been told that the victim's perspective will allow it to appreciate the proportionality and reasonableness of the legislative design in light of social realities.
An impleadment application has been filed before the Supreme Court of India by a victim of coercive and fraudulent religious conversion in the batch of petitions challenging the various anti-conversion laws of states across the country.
The applicant, one Abhishek Khateek has stated that his case represents the very mischief which the impugned legislations seek to address. "His inclusion in this matter is not intended to broaden the controversy, but to provide an authentic and constitutionally relevant perspective—that of a victim whose rights these statutes are designed to protect", the application states.
The Applicant belongs to a Scheduled Caste Hindu community and is a resident of Madhya Pradesh. His case dates back to a surprise inspection conducted by Priyank Kanoongo, then Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), at Asha Kiran Home, Jhinjhari, in 2023 when the statements of 4 children including Khateek were recorded by Sub-Inspector Monika Chauhan, in which grave violations of child protection norms and instances of coercive religious conversion were disclosed.
These four children had stated that despite being Hindus, they were compelled to participate in Christian prayers, prevented from visiting temples, and subjected to psychological and religious coercion under the management of Mr. Jerald Alameda and Ms. Lisi Joseph, Directors of the said child home. Upon perusal of the statements and inspection findings, offences under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and Sections 3 and 5 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, were found prima facie established, leading to registration of the FIR and initiation of investigation.
Being one of the victims whose statement revealed the commission of the aforesaid offences, the applicant says he has a direct and substantial interest in the proceedings before Supreme Court, as the petition which challenges the constitutional validity of the Freedom of Religion Acts, directly impacts his rights and the prosecution initiated for his protection.
"...the constitutional validity of the very statute enacted to protect individuals like him is under challenge before this Hon’ble Court; hence, the Applicant’s presence is essential to assist the Court in evaluating the statute’s social necessity, legislative competence, and proportionality", the application filed through Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey states.
"Individuals or organisations, often under the guise of charity or community service, approach economically vulnerable families with promises of employment, education, and healthcare. Over time, these assurances transform into subtle psychological and financial coercion, culminating in conversion ceremonies that victims neither comprehend nor consent to. The Applicant’s family endured precisely such a process. The “conversion” imposed upon them severed social ties, deprived them of constitutional benefits Hindu citizens, and in this case a Scheduled Caste Hindu Citizen, and subjected them to humiliation and ostracism", the application adds.
Last month, the Supreme Court granted four weeks to the states for filing their responses on various petitions challenging the constitutional validity of anti-religious conversion laws enacted by several states in the country.
The laws under challenge include the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019; the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020; the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020; and a similar enactment in Uttarakhand. These statutes aim to prohibit forced or fraudulent religious conversions, but have come under intense scrutiny over alleged misuse and infringement on individual freedoms.
Earlier, Supreme Court had while hearing pleas challenging the anti-conversion laws of various states ordered that a transfer petition shall be filed before it, for the purpose of transferring all litigation pending before the High Courts across the country.
Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind had also moved the Supreme Court against the laws promulgated for the prohibition of “love jihad” and other modes of unlawful religious conversion. The petition has been filed against the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition Of Unlawful Conversion Of Religion Act, 2021, the Uttarakhand Freedom Of Religion Act, 2018, the Himachal Pradesh Freedom Of Religion Act, 2019, the Madhya Pradesh Freedom Of Religion Act, 2021 and the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021.
The plea states that the said laws force a person to disclose his faith and thereby invade into the privacy of a person. It submits that the compulsory disclosure of one’s religion in any form amounts to violation of the right to manifest his/her beliefs as the said right includes the right not to manifest one’s beliefs. In view of the issue of love jihad, the plea submits that several times in cases of interfaith marriages, a person converts to embrace the faith of their spouse. Interfaith couples often bear the brunt of being ostracized from the community, so much so that the families engage in the crime of “honour killing”, thereby murdering their very own kith and kin, who have dared to marry outside their faith, the plea reads.
Case Title: Citizens for Justice and Peace vs. State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr. & connected matters