'Interfaith Marriages Invalid Without Conversion': Allahabad HC Orders Probe into Arya Samaj Wedding
The Allahabad High Court recently dismissed a petition filed by a man seeking to quash criminal proceedings initiated against him for allegedly kidnapping and raping a minor girl under the guise of marriage.
Court, while refusing relief, also ordered a high-level investigation into the rise of questionable Arya Samaj marriages involving minors and interfaith couples without proper legal procedures.
"The Secretary, Home, Govt. of U.P. is directed to get the matter investigated by an officer, not below the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police, as to how such kind of fake Arya Samaj Societies have flourished throughout the State, who are getting such marriages done," Justice Prashant Kumar ordered.
One Sonu alias Shahnur approached the court seeking quashing of the summoning order and charges framed under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (abduction), 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3/4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to the FIR filed in 2020, Sonu had allegedly abducted a minor girl and later claimed to have married her.
Sonu’s counsel argued that the duo had solemnised their marriage on 14 February 2020 and, upon attaining majority, the girl voluntarily started living with him. He relied on the Supreme Court’s judgment in Pramod Suryabhan Pawar v. State of Maharashtra to argue that the case lacked prosecutable merit.
However, the single judge bench noted that the victim was a minor at the time of the alleged marriage, making such a union legally invalid.
Furthermore, the bench observed that Sonu and the victim belonged to different religions and had not undergone lawful conversion under the U.P. Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
"There is averment in the application that they have solemnized marriage in Arya Samaj Mandir at Prayagraj. However, the same could not have been done without proper conversion as per the existing law," court observed.
Apart from that, court expressed concern over the certificate issued by an Arya Samaj Mandir solemnising the marriage, calling it potentially fabricated. The marriage, he noted, was also not registered under the mandatory U.P. Marriage Registration Rules, 2017.
"Certain people who claim themselves of Arya Samaj and are getting marriages solemnized illegally, with malafide intentions without even verifying the age of the groom and the bride", the judge observed.
Citing an earlier judgment in Shanidev and Another v. State of U.P. (2024), court noted that a worrying number of such illegal marriages were being conducted across the state, facilitated by dubious Arya Samaj groups.
Therefore, in a strong administrative direction, court ordered the Police to investigate how such unregistered and allegedly unlawful Arya Samaj societies are operating. A compliance report is due by 29 August 2025.
Case Title: Sonu Urf Sahnur vs. State of U.P. and Another
Order Date: July 24, 2025
Bench: Justice Prashant Kumar