Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Upadhyay on Thursday filed a plea seeking to declare forced religious conversions a “terrorist act.”The plea came in the backdrop of allegations of religious conversion and sexual harassment at Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) office in Maharashtra’s Nashik.Also Read | TCS Nashik case snowballs: Accused acted like organised gang to target female colleagues, say copsUpadhyay contended that “deceitful religious conversion” is “not only a serious threat to sovereignty, secularism, democracy and liberty but also a menace to fraternity, dignity, unity and national integration.”“The organised religious conversion in Nashik has shaken the conscience of citizens across the country. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this application seeking directions and declarations to curb deceitful religious conversion,” the plea said.“Forceful or deceitful religious conversion is not an isolated religious act but a systematic conspiracy, often funded by foreign entities to alter the demographic balance and thereby threaten the unity, integrity and security of India. As such, it falls within the ambit of a terrorist act as defined under Section 15 of the UAPA,” it added.Also Read: TCS Nashik office employees told to work from home amid religious conversion, harassment claimsUpadhyay also sought directions to the Centre and state governments to establish special courts to deal with cases related to religious conversion.The plea noted that Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion, but is subject to public order, health and morality.It argued that while all persons have the right to profess, practise and propagate religion, the freedom is not absolute and remains subject to constitutional conditions, including public order, morality and health.Also Read: Infosys issues statement on Pune harassment allegations; scrutiny grows after Nashik TCS caseThe petition emphasised that freedom to act upon one’s religion does not grant unrestricted authority to act in its name, but is instead subject to reasonable limitations.Filed as part of Upadhyay’s pending petition seeking stricter measures against fraudulent religious conversions, the application reiterates the need for stronger legal safeguards.Observing that religious conversion is a serious issue that should not be politicised, the Supreme Court of India in 2023 had sought assistance from Attorney General R Venkataramani, the Centre’s chief legal adivsor, on the matter.(With PTI inputs)
