Plea filed in Supreme Court against deceitful religious conversion following Nashik TCS case

A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday following the allegations of religious conversion and sexual harassment at a multinational company (MNC) in Nashik seeking directions to control alleged deceitful religious conversion.

The PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay claimed that organized religious conversion in Nashik had shaken the conscience of citizens throughout the country.

He contended the deceitful religious conversion was a serious threat to sovereignty, secularism, democracy, equality, justice, liberty, fraternity, unity and national integration.

The plea contended that the right to freedom of religion does not include the right to convert others through fraud, force, coercion, or cheating.

The plea was filed against the backdrop of charges of sexual harassment and allegations of forced religious conversion levelled by eight female employees at the TCS office in Nashik.

It urged the court to direct the Centre and states to take stringent steps to control religious conversion, which is an “organised crime, act of terrorism, indirect waging war; unlawful act and a serious threat to national security."

The plea also urged the court to direct the Centre and states to establish special courts to deal with religious conversion cases and declare that the sentence for deceitful religious conversion shall be consecutive, not concurrent.