Allahabad High Court
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has ruled that an inter-faith marriage, solemnised on the basis of a fake conversion certificate is illegal as it rejected the request for providing security to an interfaith couple.
A single bench comprising Justice Sourabh Srivastava gave this ruling on a petition filed by one Mohammed Bin Quasim alias Akbar and his wife Chandra Kanta alias Zanab Parveen recently.
The couple had filed the petition in the HC seeking a directive to the police to provide them security as they felt threatened from the family of the girl. Chandra Kanta had ‘converted’ to Islam at ‘Khankah Alia Arifia’ (an Islamic religious place) in Kaushambi in the state in February this year.
Quasim and Chandra Kanta, rechristened as Zainab Parveen, later married in accordance with the Islamic rituals in May.
During the hearing of the matter, the manager of the ‘Khankah Aaliya Arifia’ informed the court that it had not issued any conversion certificate to Chandra Kanta.
The court ruled that as the conversion certificate was fake, the marriage solemnised on that basis was void. It further said that according to the Muslim law, a ‘nikah’ (Muslim marriage) could take place only between the people who follow Islam and not with people of any other religion.
The court also warned the lawyer of the petitioners against submitting documents without verification and imposed a fine of Rs 25 thousand on him.
As Chandra Kanta refused to go with her parents, the court directed that she be kept at a Women’s shelter at Prayagraj.