Guj govt moves HC seeking removal of stay on section 5 of anti-conversion law

Gujarat govt on Wednesday okayed the HC order, seeking rectification in its recent order in which it stayed the operation of section 5 of the new anti-conversion law. The govt told the Gujarat HC section 5 of the Gujarat Freedom Of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021 has nothing to do with marriage per se. The court agreed to hear the govt’s contention. On Aug 19, HC had stayed sections 3, 4, 4A to 4C, 5, 6 and 6A of the 2021 amended Act pending further hearing, saying they “shall not operate merely because a marriage is solemnised by a person of one religion with a

person of another religion without force or by allurement or by fraudulent means and such marriages cannot be termed as marriages for the purposes of unlawful conversion”. The state moved the division bench of CJ Vikram Nath and Justice Biren Vaishnav, seeking a nod for rectification about sec 5 of the amended Act, challenged through 2 pleas. Advocate General Kamal Trivedi told the court sec 5 has nothing to do with marriage and it is permission for conversion, which people have been seeking since the last 18 years under the Gujarat Freedom Of Religion Act, 2003. "My Lords have recorded my argument, I said that per se marriage can’t be prohibited. Section 5 has nothing to do with it. It talks about whoever wants to convert have to take permission, and people have been taking permission since 2003,” he said, adding, section 5 does not use the word “marriage” and it deals with permission from the District Magistrate for conversion, either before or after marriage, or even in cases without marriage.