Bombay HC: No conversion solely for marriage, but everyone free to change faith

The Bombay High Court has said that religion cannot be changed merely for the sake of marriage. The court also said that every person is free to change their religion. It made the observation while hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the recently enforced anti-conversion law in Maharashtra.

The hearing was held before a bench of Chief Justice Mahesh C. Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna. The petition has been filed by a 70-year-old Islamic preacher from Thane. The bench said the law is meant to preserve secularism in society and that the state is concerned about conversions carried out through force or coercion. The court also questioned the practice of changing religion just a day before a wedding.

The bench said, "This is only to maintain the secular fabric of society. The government is concerned only with conversion by force or coercion. Anyone is free to change their religion. But conversion cannot be allowed only for marriage."

Under the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, conversion brought about by force, fraud, coercion, inducement, misinformation, false influence or marriage is treated as an offence. Under Section 6 of the Act, the administration must be informed 60 days before a change of religion.

The petition alleges that the law violates the freedom to propagate religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution. The lawyers appearing for the petitioner, Yusuf Muchhala, Mateen Shaikh, Ejaz Maqbool and Shahid Nadeem, challenged the definition of "allurement" given in Section 2(a) of the Act. They also questioned the strict pre-conversion procedures laid down in Sections 6 and 7.

Thus, the court upheld every person's freedom to change religion, while making clear that a conversion made solely because of marriage will not be accepted. The petitioner's objections to the validity of the law remain before the court.