Religious conversion seekers must give 30 days advance notice: Jodhpur HC

Any person going for religious conversion on his own should inform the District Collector 30 days in advance, the Jodhpur High Court ordered on Friday.

Issuing fresh guidelines for matters relating to religious conversions, Justice G.K. Vyas warned that stringent action would be taken against those found forcing people to convert.

"If any particular organisation is found guilty (of forcing) for caste conversion, its licence will be cancelled," he observed.

On November 28, the amicus curiae appointed by the Rajasthan High Court to look into the legality of religious conversions in the state had advised the court to issue guidelines for conversions until a law was enacted by the government in this regard.

The amicus curiae was appointed by the court following a habeas corpus petition filed by Chirag Singhvi, brother of Aarifa Modi alias Payal Singhvi, which challenged the conversion of his sister from Hinduism to Islam and then her marriage to a Muslim man.

The division bench of justices G.K. Vyas and Virendra Kumar Mathur had adjourned the hearing for arguments by the government and other respondents.

--IANS

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