Failing to get nod for religious conversion, Gujarat man moves High Court
Ahmedabad: A 32-year-old Hindu man seeking to convert to Islam has moved the Gujarat High Court to direct Bharuch district authorities to expedite the process, as he has already waited for more than a year after submitting an application for the same.
Petitioner Jignesh Patel's lawyer M T Saiyad on Thursday said Bharuch's collector has withheld Patel's application for more than a year, despite a sub-divisional magistrate's inquiry report filed in February 2020 giving a favourable opinion that he may be granted permission for conversion.
In a recent order, Justice Bela Trivedi directed the district collector to decide on Patel's application "as expeditiously as possible", preferably within eight weeks.
"The application seeking permission of the collector at Bharuchis pending for more than a year. The petition was filed to direct the collector to decide on the application," Patel's lawyer said.
The sub-divisional magistrate's report established that Patel was not under pressure to convert, as mandated in the state's anti-conversion law, Saiyad said.
Patel submitted his application to the collector on November 26, 2019, with a declaration that he was not under pressure or allurement for conversion.
The petitioner said in his affidavit that he was attracted to Islam and wanted to convert to the religion.
He had been living like a Muslim for six years, observing fasts during Ramzan, offering namaz and following other rituals associated with the religion, he said in the affidavit.
His application was even supported by one Imran Patel, the person who was to preside over the conversion, originally scheduled on January 1, 2020, but the collector never responded, Jignesh Patel said in his plea before the HC.
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LIVE | Election Results of five states 2026
New Delhi: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states that have captured the attention of people across the country.
The counting of votes for the Assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry will begin simultaneously at 8 am, and the fate of candidates in a total of 824 constituencies will be decided shortly.
The counting of postal ballots will take place first, followed by the counting of EVM votes in several rounds.
- Bhupen Borah, who recently left Congress and joined the BJP, is leading in Assam’s Bihpuria constituency
- Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is leading in Jalukabari constituency
- BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is leading in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituencyFive-state elections: Postal vote counting begins
- TMC, BJP lead in one seat each in West Bengal
- In Tamil Nadu, DMK leads in 3 constituencies, while TVK leads in 1
- UDF leads in 5 seats in Kerala, BJP in 1, LDF in 1
- BJP leads in 2 seats, AIUDF in 1 in Assam
- AINRC leads in 1 constituency in Puducherry
- TMC leads in 5 seats in West Bengal; Mamata Banerjee’s party maintains initial lead
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin leads in Kolathur
- BJP takes early lead in Assam
- Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala
- In Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay leads in the Perambur constituency, lags in Tiruchirappalli South
- BJP leads in 10 seats in Assam
- LDF candidate V.P.P. Mustafa leads in the Thrikkaripur Assembly constituency
- Out of 294 seats in West Bengal, BJP is leading in 14 seats, TMC in 12 seats, Congress in 2 seats
- Out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK is leading in 15 seats, AIADMK is leading in 5 seats, TVK is leading in 2 seats
- Out of 126 seats in Assam, BJP is leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4 seats, AIUDF in 2 seats.
- Out of 30 seats in Puducherry, NRC+ is leading in 3 seats, Congress in 2 seats, TVK in 1 seat.
- Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffers a setback in theBerhampore constituency in West Bengal.
