Chhattisgarh HC upholds validity of banners against pastors
Chhattisgarh High Court upheld hoardings in Kanker villages restricting pastors' entry, ruling them constitutional to prevent forced religious conversions.
The Chhattisgarh high court has upheld the validity of hoardings in several Kanker villages that restrict the entry of pastors and “converted Christians”, ruling that such signs meant to prevent forcible religious conversions are not unconstitutional.
A division bench of chief justice Ramesh Sinha and justice Bibhu Datta Guru, while disposing of a petition filed by Kanker resident Digbal Tandi, said, “the installation of the hoardings for preventing forcible conversion by way of allurement or fraudulent means cannot be termed as unconstitutional.”
The court order, dated October 28, read, “the hoardings appear to have been installed by the concerned Gram Sabhas as a precautionary measure to protect the interest of indigenous tribes and local cultural heritage.”
The petitioner had challenged the hoardings, saying they amounted to segregation of Christians and their religious leaders from the mainstream village community.
The plea also alleged that the Panchayat Department had instructed local bodies to adopt resolutions under the slogan “Hamari Parampara Hamari Virasat” (Our tradition, our heritage), which, it claimed, were being misused to prohibit the entry of Christian pastors and converts.
At least eight villages in Kanker district have put up such hoardings, which the petitioner said had created fear among Christian residents about visiting areas they previously frequented.
The plea further alleged that the circular misused the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, or PESA, to promote religious discrimination.
Defending the state, additional advocate General YS Thakur said the gram sabhas acted within their powers under PESA to preserve local traditions and cultural identity.
“The hoardings installed by the concerned Gram Sabha are only for the limited purpose of prohibiting only those Pastors of the Christian religion belonging to other villages who are entering the village for the purpose of illegal conversion of the tribal peoples,” he said.
Thakur also cited past law and order issues, including the 2023 incident in Narayanpur district when tribals vandalised a church and assaulted police officers.
After hearing the counsel appearing for the parties, the court said, “...Religious conversion, when voluntary and spiritual, is a legitimate exercise of conscience. However, when it becomes a calculated act of exploitation disguised as charity, it undermines both faith and freedom...”
The order further read, “the so-called conversion by inducement by certain missionary groups is not merely a religious concern, it is a social menace that threatens the unity and cultural continuity of India’s indigenous communities. The remedy lies not in intolerance, but in ensuring that faith remains a matter of conviction, not compulsion.”
The High Court noted that the petitioner had not exhausted available legal remedies before approaching the court. “A party must firstly exhaust the statutory alternative remedy available before approaching the High Court seeking redressal of any grievance,” the order stated.
