If conversion is found illegal, couple cannot be recognised as married: Allahabad HC
Prayagraj (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has held that if conversion is illegal, a marriage based on it will be automatically invalid and the man and woman cannot be recognised as a married couple in the eyes of law.
Justice Saurabh Srivastava passed this order on a writ filed by Mohammad Bin Qasim alias Akbar seeking direction to the respondents not to interfere in their peaceful marital life.
The court, however, said that both the petitioners are entitled to perform marriage under the Special Marriage Act.
The petitioner's counsel submitted said that Qasim belonged to Muslim community while Jainab Parveen alias Chandrakanta was Hindu. On February 22, 2025, Chandrakanta accepted Islam and Khanqahe Alia Arifia issued a certificate for this.
On May 26, 2025, both the petitioners solemnised their marriage as per rituals under the Muslim law and a marriage certificate was issued by the Quazi concerned, the counsel submitted.
However, the additional chief standing counsel vehemently opposed this on the ground that the conversion certificate allegedly issued by Khanqahe Alia Arifia is a forged and fictitious document, since the secretary and manager of Jamia Arifia, Saiyed Sarawan, Kaushambi stated in a reply that the institution has not issued the certificate on February 22.
On this, the court observed, "After hearing rival contentions raised by the learned counsel for the parties and perusal of the entire records, one thing is clear, that conversion on a forged document cannot determine any of the essential ingredients as mentioned in the Uttar Pradesh Unlawful Conversion Act."
"Such, marriage solemnised between the petitioners is also not sustainable in the eyes of law since as per the Muslim Law, marriage is a contract between the follower and believer of the same religion. Once, the conversion in respect of Petitioner No 2 (Chandrakanta) is illegal, both the petitioners cannot be recognised as a married couple in the eyes of law," it said.
However, the court directed both the petitioners to register their marriage under the Special Marriage Act, which does not require any ritual of conversion.
The court also directed that till the receiving of the certificate issued under the Special Marriage Act, Petitioner No 2 will be kept in a women's protection home in Prayagraj, as she is not willing to reside with her parents and has expressed her consent to stay in the protection home.
The court, in its order on Tuesday, imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 25,000 on the counsel for petitioners, which shall be deposited in the Mediation and Conciliation Centre within 15 days from the date of order.
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Sooryavanshi's century in vain as SRH beat RR by 5 wickets
Jaipur (PTI): Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's century went in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets in their IPL match here on Saturday.
Sooryavanshi hammered his second hundred in the IPL — a 37-ball 103 — as Rajasthan Royals put on board a strong 228 for six after they were put in to bat first.
Sooryavanshi got plenty of support from Dhruv Jurel, who made a 35-ball 51 and, helped the teenager milk 112 runs for the second wicket. In the death overs, Donovan Ferreira (33) played some big shots as RR went past the 200-run mark.
But, SRH chased down the target of 229 with nine balls to spare, with Ishan Kishan top-scoring with a 74 off 31 balls. Abhishek Sharma chipped in with 57 off 29 deliveries as SRH reached 229 for 5 in 18.3 overs.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals: 228/6 in 20 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 103, Dhruv Jurel 51; Pat Cummins 1/27, Eshan Malinga 2/38).
Sunrisers Hydearabad: 229 for 5 in 18.3 overs (Ishan Kishan 74, Abhishek Sharma 57; Jofra Archer 2/34, Brijesh Sharma 2/44).
