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The Gujarat High Court today passed an interim order staying the implementation of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021 which bans forceful conversion through interfaith marriages in the state.

The order was passed by the division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Biren Vaishnav to protect parties of interfaith marriages from harassment, where marriages are entered into without force, allurement or fraudulent means.

Pronouncing the order through video Conferencing the Court said “We are therefore of the opinion that pending further hearing, the rigours of Section 3, 4, 4A to 4C, 5, 6, and 6A shall not operate merely because marriage is solemnized by a person of one religion with another without force or allurement or fraudulent means and such marriages cannot be termed as marriages for the purposes of unlawful conversion”.

The Court further said “The above interim order is provided only on the lines of the arguments made by Mr.Trivedi the learned Advocate General and to protect the parties of inter-faith marriage from being unnecessarily harassed".

The Court passed the order on a  petition filed by one Mohammed Isa. M. Hakim who argued that the amended law is against the basic principles of marriage, and the right to propagate, profess and practice religion as enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution.

Adv. Mihir Joshi appeared for the petitioner and Adv. Gen. Kamal Trivedi appeared for the State.
 
On Apr 1, 2021, the Gujarat Legislative Assembly had passed the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021, which penalises forcible or fraudulent religious conversion through marriage.

Edited by Shreya Agarwal