Subhashree Parhi & Shashwata Biradar, B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), Alliance School of Law, Alliance University, Bangalore
ABSTRACT
Religion is a part of human life. Because follower of a particular religion follow a specific way of life, religion serves as the cornerstone of human existence. Along with the moral obligation to uphold certain rules, religion enters the realm of law, requiring individuals to follow or refrain from disobeying the laws set forth by the state (i.e. any country). Because people were required to uphold religious duties and can assert religious rights prior to the formation of a state or democracy, it is clear that the law and religion are interdependent. Law and order are vitally dependent on religion. Religion teaches about moral precepts that should be observed, such as Do not murder. There are regulations or laws in law, and if you breach one, you'll be punished. An illustration would be getting jailed for murder. In this we are going to discuss about the constitutional validity of religious values in the process of law making and the difficulties faced due to presence of various religion in India. The Indian Constitution establishes a distinction between a secular realm under the control of the State and a religious realm into which it is forbidden for the State to intrude. Nonetheless, courts of law are frequently asked to decide a variety of religiously-related disputes, and their rulings could have a significant impact on religious conceptions and practises. The judicial process necessitates the establishment of standardised, precise definitions of various concepts in order for them to be managed within a legal context (such as "religion" itself, or "worshipper," "custom," "use," "religious service," "religious office," "religious honour," etc.). Furthermore, although a religious domain may be differentiated from a secular one and exempt from State interference, there are civil rights disputes that involve religious problems, and as a result, civil courts may have an explicit duty to rule on these disputes. Interventions like defining legal terms or making decisions about religious issues that affect civil rights are systemic in nature and integral to "modern" law itself. These are different from any explicit official secularism policy or the equally explicit reformist intent of some judges in this regard, which may vary depending on the historical moment or the judges' individual preferences. In order to analyse the disputed boundaries of this judicial intervention and the ensuing entanglement between law and religion, this paper provides commentary on a number of judgements from India's upper courts that were selected from the end of the nineteenth century to the present.
