Anti-Conversion Laws And The Right To Marry By Choice: Individual Autonomy, Religious Freedom And State Regulation
Avanish Kumar, Research Scholar, Faculty of Law, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
ABSTRACT
The right to choose a life partner constitutes an important dimension of individual autonomy, dignity, privacy and personal liberty under the Indian constitutional framework. The issue assumes particular significance in the context of interfaith marriages, especially where one of the parties voluntarily changes religion before or after marriage. Several Indian States have enacted anti-conversion laws to prohibit religious conversion through force, fraud, coercion, undue influence, misrepresentation, inducement or allurement. While preventing involuntary and fraudulent conversion represents a legitimate State objective, the application of such laws to consensual interfaith relationships raises important constitutional concerns. This article critically examines the relationship between the right to marry by choice and anti-conversion laws through the constitutional principles embodied in Articles 14, 15, 19, 21 and 25 of the Constitution of India. It analyses the jurisprudence relating to privacy, decisional autonomy, freedom of conscience and marital choice, alongside the statutory framework governing religious conversion and interfaith marriage. The article further examines the potential impact of procedural requirements, criminalisation and State scrutiny on the autonomy of consenting adults. It argues that anti- conversion laws should target coercive and fraudulent conversion without creating disproportionate restrictions on voluntary religious choice or matrimonial autonomy. The article advocates a rights-based approach founded upon dignity, privacy, proportionality and constitutional morality.
Keywords: Right to Marry by Choice; Anti-Conversion Laws; Individual Autonomy; Religious Freedom; Interfaith Marriage.
