SC Judicial Activism and Anti-Conversion Law

• The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine the constitutional validity of laws enacted by States, such as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, that criminalise religious conversion via marriage and mandate prior official clearance before marrying into another faith.
• A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, however, did not stay the implementation of the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018, despite fervent pleas.
• Mr Singh argued that the burden of proof was on those who married to show they were not doing so to get converted. “Those who are found guilty under these laws stare at a 10-year prison sentence. The offences are non-bailable. We are getting reports that people are being picked up in the middle of weddings on suspicion of religious conversion,” he said.
• However, the Bench, which asked the petitioners to go to the respective State High Courts with their challenge, did not stay the implementation of the laws.
• “This is the problem. We have already issued a notice. You have come here under Article 32 of the Constitution...” Chief Justice Bobde said and resisted the plea to stay.
• Mr Singh said the laws concerning violation of the fundamental rights of dignity and liberty enshrined under Article 21.
• They had been enacted despite a series of judgments by the Supreme Court, including in the Hadiya case, that right to marry a person of one’s choice was part of an adult’s privacy.

Advertising in the name of God is illegal

• The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has declared that advertisement of any article using the name of any God and claiming that it has supernatural qualities, is “illegal” and falls under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.
• A division bench of justices T.V. Nalawade and M.G. Sewlikar was hearing a petition filed by Rajendra Ambhore, a teacher, seeking a direction and injunction to prevent advertisements on television channels that promote the sale of articles like Hanuman Chalisa Yantra.
• Mr. Ambhore said that in March 2015, he came across advertisements on TV claiming special, miraculous and supernatural properties/qualities in Hanuman Chalisa Yantra prepared by one Baba Mangalnath, who had achieved ‘siddhi’ (supernatural powers) and was blessed by Lord Hanuman. The Yantra costs Rs. 4,900 and was said to be made of 24-carat gold. Singers and other celebrities were shown in the ads talking about their experiences, the plea said.
• The court said telemarketers change the names of companies, Gods and Babas to show that each was a different Yantra. The court went on to say, “The objectives quoted in the Black Magic Act can be achieved mainly through education. Reformists like Mahatma Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar, who worked to remove evil practices and spread awareness against superstition, were born on this soil.”
• It could safely be said that at least basic education was available to everybody in the State.

Analysis of Central Vista Project

Beyond judicial clearance, Central Vista should be able to achieve national consensus

• With the Supreme Court’s 2-1 judgment clearing the Central Vista project for New Delhi, the Narendra Modi government can now indelibly reshape the national capital’s visual landscape.
• Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari found no infirmity in the approvals granted by the Central Vista Committee, Delhi Urban Art Commission, the Heritage Conservation Committee and other bodies, paving the way for a new Parliament building and other edifices of government to come up.
• Justice Sanjiv Khanna, while agreeing with the majority opinion on the call for bid, award and the decision of the Urban Commission, dissented on the key issue of public participation in the entire exercise, which vitiated the endorsement of land use change.
• Governments should naturally be free to plan policies and programmes on behalf of the people, with no prior restraint, but subject to judicial review to ensure accountability.
• Judged against this principle, the Centre is simply exercising its privilege to plan a new set of buildings to house its establishment and the federal legislature.
• While the final cost estimate is unclear, planned expenditures are in excess of Rs. 13,450 crore for, among other things, a new Central Secretariat, Vice-President’s enclave and Prime Minister’s residence, besides Rs. 971 crore for the new Parliament.
• With a national consensus, such a colossal plan might be a crowning achievement for the 75th year of Independence in 2022.
• What is germane to the question, however, is its appropriateness in a year of unprecedented disruption due to COVID-19.
• This is when an elected government must give its undivided attention to schemes for the common weal and not be tempted into extravagant indulgence.
• As Justice Khanna has pointed out, public consultation in a democracy requires citizens to be able to assess the project’s rationale, armed with information on the official reasoning, and with sufficient time at their disposal.
• The essence of their view should inform the final decision.
• Opportunities for public consultation, already incorporated into modern laws and also in the Delhi Development Act, in no way fetter the executive.
• It would be appropriate, therefore, for the Centre to attempt consensus-building on Central Vista, without showing undue anxiety and haste in taking up all planned structures together.
• The pandemic’s course points to uncertainty on restoration of economic health, and ameliorating the damage to large sectors of the economy, especially in services.
• In the run-up to 2022, the government will be tested on its ability to ensure good health for all citizens, revive normative education and provide stronger welfare.
• Prioritising Central Vista can prove to be a distraction from the task.