Catholic Church leaders have welcomed India’s top court dis-missing a petition that sought a federal law to check religious conversion and black magic.
The Supreme Court of India on April 9 said persons above 18 years of age are free to choose their religion and dismissed a plea seeking directions to the federal government to enact a nationwide law against religious conversion.
The petition in the form of public interest litigation was filed by Ashwini Upadhyay, a Supreme Court lawyer and a member of the ruling pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A bench of Justices R.F. Nariman, B.R. Gavai and Hrishikesh Roy disagreed with the demand, directed the petitioner to withdraw it and threatened to impose heavy costs if he persisted with it.
The court directions are “in the right spirit” of the constitution, which guarantees every citizen the right to profess, practice and propagate a religion of choice, said Father Babu Joseph, former spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
“Several states have enacted laws curbing the religious freedom guaranteed by the constitution and it has had an adverse impact on several communities, especially Christians,” he told.

A Catholic archbishop joined an Indian state’s chief minister on a special one-day fast to create awareness among people about the need to protect themselves from Covid-19.
“It is our duty and respon-sibility to protect ourselves and others from the danger of Covid-19,” said Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal.
Madhya Pradesh’s Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan started a 24-hour fast in state capital Bhopal on April 6 in a specially erected tent.
He said it is time that “we all should take a firm resolution that we will wear masks and en-courage others” to do so to ensure the safety of everyone.
Archbishop Cornelio was among many religious leaders who joined Chouhan on his fast.
“It is high time that we all take the pandemic seriously and prepare to protect ourselves from its impending attack that could be fatal for many and precarious for others,” the prelate told on April 7.
“We need to ensure our safety by following government pro-tocols when we move in public as it is essential to ensure that we do not become a carrier.
“We need to cover our faces and wash our hands regularly as prevention is better than cure.”
Archbishop Cornelio praised Chouhan for his special initiative to reach out to people about Covid-19.
Father Maria Stephen, public relations officer of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, told that “we are now in a war with Covid-19” and urged everyone to be more serious about their health.