Charity or good work is welcome but if it is intended for religious conversion then it is a serious issue, the Supreme Court of India has said, taking a tough stand on forced religious conversion.

Hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay on 5 December 2022, a bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar noted that forced conversion is against the Constitution.

“The purpose of charity should not be conversion; every charity or good work is welcome, but what is required to be considered is the intention,” the court said.

The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking direction to the Centre and states to take stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conversion by “intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits”.

The Centre told the court it is collecting information from states on religious conversion through such means.

Appearing before the bench, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought time to furnish detailed information on the issue.

“We are gathering information from the states. Give us a week’s time,” Mehta said. He said statutory the regime will determine whether a person is converting due to some change in belief.

The top court acknowledged forced religious conversion is a very serious matter.

“Do not take it as adversarial. It is a very serious issue. Ultimately it is against our Constitution. When everyone stays in India, they have to act per the culture of India,” the bench observed.

The apex court will now take up the matter on December 12.

Forced religious conversion may pose a danger to national security and impinge on religious freedom of citizens, the top court had said recently, and asked the Centre to step in and make sincere efforts to tackle the “very serious” issue.