RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS The Supreme Court said that people are free to choose their religion, even as it lashed out at a petition claiming there is mass religious conversion happening “by hook or by crook” across the country. About: The supreme court said that people have a right under the Constitution to profess, practise and propagate religion. Article 25 of the Constitution grants Fundamental right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health. Every person is the final judge of his/her choice of religion or who their life partner should be. Courts cannot sit in judgment of a person’s choice of religion or life partner. Religious faith is a part of the fundamental right to privacy. The Constitution Bench judgment had earlier upheld inviolability of the right to privacy, equating it with the rights to life, of dignity and liberty. FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION OPERATION (FONOP) India has protested the U.S. decision to conduct a patrol in the
JUDICIAL REVIEW A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court by Wasim Rizvi seeking declaration of 26 verses of the Quran as unconstitutional, non-effective and non- functional on the ground that these promote extremism and terrorism. Power of judicial review: Under Indian law, only a “law” can be challenged as unconstitutional. Article 13(3) defines law, which includes any ordinance, order, by-law, rule, regulations, notification, custom or usage having in the territory the force of law. “Laws in force” on the commencement of the Constitution include laws enacted by a legislature or other competent authority. This definition certain does not cover any religious scripture including the Quran. Similarly, neither the Vedas nor the Gita, nor the Bible, nor the Guru Granth Sahib can be said to be “law” under Article 13 and thus challenged in a court of law. The divine books can be sources of law but not law in themselves. Thus, Quran in itself is not “law” for the pur