India, Oct. 23 -- The Bombay High Court on Thursday held that while individuals are free to change their religion, conversion solely for the purpose of marriage cannot be permitted. The court also observed that a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, lacked the foundational facts necessary for judicial consideration.

"This is just to maintain the secular fabric of society. The State is only concerned with coercion or religious conversion by force. Anyone has the freedom to change their religion. But just for the purpose of marriage, conversion cannot be permitted," a division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna said while refusing to enterta...