Himachal Pradesh HC strikes down key parts of anti-conversion law

In a judgement that was keenly followed by the Christian community, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Thursday partially struck down the draconian Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2006.

Observing that section 4 of the Act violated the provisions of the Constitution, the court ruled that no notice was required if a person is intending to convert to a religion of his choice.

Section 4 mandates that 30-day notice must be given to the district magistrate before religious conversion. A failure to send prior notice is punishable with a fine of up to 1,000 rupees.

A division bench comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Rajiv Sharma observed that state had no role to play if anyone converted to a different faith of own will.

"Citizens not only have the rights of conscience and belief, and the freedom to change this belief, but also they have the right to keep their beliefs secret," ruled the court.

"No doubt, the right to privacy is, like any other right, subject to public order, morality and the larger interest of the state," the court said, as reported by the Hindustan Times.

"However, this does not mean that the majority interest is the larger public interest. Larger public interest would mean the integrity, unity and sovereignty of the country, the maintenance of public law and order. Merely because the majority view is different does not mean that the minority view must be silenced."

The court also observed that it did not in any way condone conversions, especially those by "force", "fraud" or "inducement".

Any such conversion must be dealt with strictly in accordance with law which we have held to be valid, the bench ruled.

The High Court has reportedly only struck down Section 4 of the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2006 and Rule 3 of the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Rules, 2007. All other provisions of the Act and the Rules are held to be valid.

The petitions were filed by the Evangelical Fellowship of India and Act Now for Harmony and Democracy. Interestingly, it was Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy who defended the law.

The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act was first enacted in 2006 by then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Although it has been in existence for over five years, till date only one case has been registered under this Act.