Himachal Pradesh High Court accepts petition challenging anti-conversion law

The Himachal Pradesh high court last week admitted a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the state's "Freedom of Religion Act", commonly known as the anti-conversion law.

The petition was filed by the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), headed by Rev. Dr. Richard Howell, and co-petitioner Anhad (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy), led by Shabnam Hashm.

They argued in the petition that the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act of 2006 violated the fundamental right of freedom of conscience and freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion under the Article 25 of the Indian constitution.

The Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh high court, Justice Kurian Joseph, and Justice Sanjay Karol has scheduled the first hearing for June 14.

Though most of the anti-conversion bills were passed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Himachal Pradesh legislation is the first anti-conversion law enacted by the Congress government.

The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act requires any person wishing to convert to another religion to give a prior notice of at least 30 days to district authorities.

Section 3 of the Act prohibits conversion "by the use of force or by inducement or by any other fraudulent means" and states that a person who is converted by unfair means shall not be considered converted.

Further, any offence under Section 3 is punishable with imprisonment up to two years and/or a fine up to 25,000 rupees. In case of conversion of a minor, woman, Dalit or tribal, the imprisonment can extend to three years and the fine up to 50,000 rupees.
Currently, anti-conversion laws are in force in five Indian states: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

Says Rev. Richard Howell, "Although some of these laws have been in force for over four decades, no court is known to have convicted any person of "forced" or "fraudulent" conversions until today."

This is the second petition a court has admitted on the controversial anti-conversion law. In 2009, the Gujarat High Court admitted a similar petition by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India. A hearing is yet to be scheduled.