NEW DELHI: A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday in the wake of allegations of religious conversion and sexual harassment in a multinational company in Nashik seeking directions to control fraudulent religious conversion.
The petition was filed against the backdrop of sexual harassment charges and allegations of forced religious conversion leveled by eight female employees at the TCS office in Nashik.
The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay asserted that deceptive religious conversion not only poses a serious threat to sovereignty, secularism, democracy and freedom but also poses a threat to brotherhood, dignity, unity and national integration.
The petition, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, has sought directions to the Center and the state government to take strict steps to control religious conversion.
It also sought directions to the Center and states to set up special courts to deal with religious conversion cases and declare that punishment for false religious conversion shall be consecutive and not simultaneous.
The petition stated that the right to freedom of religion does not carry the right to convert others by fraud, force, coercion or fraud.
She added that Article 25 grants freedom of conscience, profession, practice and propagation of religion, taking into account public order, health and morals.
“All persons shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate religion freely, but not all persons shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate religion freely. This means that the right to profess, practice and propagate religion is free for all, but it cannot be exercised absolutely or freely.
The lawsuit stated that it includes the conditions of public order, morals, health, and other provisions of this section. She added that the freedom to act based on one’s religion is not absolute.
The text of the petition stated, “The expression does not mean that every person is free to do whatever he wants in the name of religion. Rather, it means that every person has the right to freedom of belief, practice, and publication, but this freedom itself is subject to reasonable restrictions.”
This request was made by Upadhyay in his pending petition seeking direction to the Center and states to take strict steps to control fraudulent religious conversions.
Since religious conversion is a serious issue that should not be given political colour, the Supreme Court in 2023 sought the help of Attorney General R Venkataramani on the petition.
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