Sections of Gujarat's love jihad law cannot stand: Gujarat HC

In an interim order, the Gujarat High Court has clarified that six sections of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, formulated to prevent 'love jihad', cannot be allowed to stand, reports NDTV. The HC clarified that the provisions could not apply to inter-faith marriages that showed no evidence of force or fraud. Inter-faith marriages conducted of free consent cannot be termed as marriages for the purpose of unlawful conversion, the court ruled. The court was hearing a petition challenging the 2021 amendment, which argued that the amendment violated individuals' freedom of choice and religion and invaded individuals' personal autonomy. Furthermore, the HC refused to state that the struck-down provisions would apply to cases of inter-faith marriages resulting in forced conversions.

"... pending further hearing... (the six sections of the law) shall not operate merely because marriage is solemnised by a person of one religion with another religion without force or allurement or fraudulent means... and such marriages cannot be termed as marriages for the purpose of unlawful conversion," the judgement said, reports Live Law.

The sections are Section 3, 3A, 4A, 4B, 4C and 6A. While section 3 prohibit acts like forcible religious conversion by marriage or aiding a person to get married, section 3A enables an aggrieved person, his parents, brother, sister, or any other person related by blood, marriage or adoption to lodge an FIR with respect to an alleged unlawful conversion. Section 4A prescribes punishment of imprisonment in the range 3 to 5 years for unlawful conversion, 4B declare marriages by unlawful coercion as void, 4 C deals with offences of organisations doing unlawful conversion section and 6 A places the burden of proof on the accused.

The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act was amended in April. Several BJP-ruled states, including Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, created or announced that they would create similar laws.