On Wednesday, 11 Nov, the High Court of Allahabad overrode its previous order that held conversion just for marriage unacceptable. The Court specifically observed that “Right to live with a person of his/her choice irrespective of religion professed by them, is intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty”, the news agency reported.
The Allahabad High Court order asserts that the matter of a religious conversion is null & void if both the parties are adults & in a consenting relationship. The right of 2 adults to stay together can't be encroached upon by the state.
The Court observed that its previous decisions about “religious conversion per se for contracting a marriage was prohibited” and said marriage has no sanctity in law are incorrect & did not lay down good law, the news agency reported.
‘Earlier Verdicts Were Not Laying Good Law’: HC
A division bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal & Justice Pankaj Naqvi held that the 2 judgments – one passed in Sept, & the other in 2014 – were “not laying good law”.
"None of these judgments dealt with the issue of life & liberty of two matured individuals in choosing a partner or their right to freedom of choice as to with whom they would like to live. We hold the judgments in Noor Jahan & Priyanshi as not laying good law” the HC observed.
The Bench said that "We fail to understand that if the law permits two persons even of the same sex to live together peacefully then neither any individual nor a family nor even the state can have an objection to the relationship of two major individuals who out of their own free will are living together."
‘Infringement of Article 21 Of the Constitution Of India’
The HC further observed that the intervention of the Courts is an infringement to Article 21 of the Constitution of India which includes right to freedom of choice & the right to live with dignity.
An FIR was lodged by the woman's father alleging offences under Sections 363, 366, 352 & 506 of the Indian Penal Code & Section 7 & 8 of the POCSO Act.
The plea before the Court was concerning a Muslim man & Hindu woman who were living together peacefully as husband & wife for over a year, & the conversion in question, was voluntary & not forced, the two said. The Court said that “We do not see Priyanka Kharwar & Salamat as Hindu & Muslim, rather as two grown-up individuals who out of their own free will & choice are living together peacefully & happily over a year.”
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