An Indian court has issued a rule that the government of the country cannot compel any person to declare his religion in any document, form or declaration.
A bench of Bombay High Court comprising Justices Abhay Oka and AS Chandurkar passed the order on Wednesday.
Hearing a (PIL Public interest litigation) filed by three citizens, the court ruled that every citizen in India had the right under the constitution to state that he or she does not belong to any religion and does not practice or profess any religion, according to several Indian media reports.
The Centre and Maharashtra Government had stated that “No Religion” filled up in official forms cannot be treated as a religion or a form of religion.
Referring to Article 25 of the Indian Constitution which guarantees right to freedom of conscience, the bench held that such a right conferred on a citizen includes a right to openly say that he or she does not practice any religion.