A top court in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has restrained the provincial government from prosecuting interfaith couples under a law that prohibits religious conversion for the purpose of marriage.
A division bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur its interim order on Nov. 14 directed that “till further orders, respondent [state government] shall not prosecute adult citizens if they solemnize marriage on their own volition and shall not take coercive action for violation of section 10 of the [Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion] Act of 2021.”
The bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Prakash Chandra Gupta said that “a strong prima facie case is made out by the petitioners” against any coercive action.