The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation seeking steps to control religious conversions saying there is no reason why a person above the age of 18 years cannot choose the religion of his choice.
"I don't see a reason as to why any person above 18 cannot choose his religion" observed Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Faliman Nariman on Friday as reported by livelaw.in.
The PIL, which was filed in the Supreme Court by BJP leader and Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, sought a bar on black magic, superstition and forceful religious conversions.
A three-judge bench headed by R.F. Nariman also warned of imposing a heavy penalty if such pleas are brought to court again.
The bench told senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, "What kind of writ petition is this under Article 32? We will impose a heavy cost on you. You argue on your own risk".
The court has also refused permission to allow the petitioner to make a representation to the Law Commission.
"No, we cannot grant you this permission," said Justice RF Nariman during the hearing. "There is a reason why the word 'propagate' is there in the Constitution" he added.