The court expunged the remarks while granting bail to an accused under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.
“Such general remarks should not be used,” said the Supreme Court as it expunged the Allahabad High Court’s observation that the country’s majority population would become a minority if religious gatherings facilitating conversions were not stopped, Bar and Bench reported.
The high court had made detailed observations on religious conversion on July 1 while denying bail to an accused in a case under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
On Friday, the bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra granted bail to the accused and termed the high court’s remarks “uncalled for”.
As per the complaint, the accused had taken several of his villagers to a “well-being” gathering in Delhi to allegedly convert them to Christianity.
In his observation, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal of the Allahabad HC had said that Article 25 of the constitution provides for “freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion” but does not provide for conversion.
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