Right to Freedom of Religion
1. Freedom of Conscience and Free Profession, Practice
and Propagation of
Religion
Article 25 says that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of
conscience and the right to freely
profess,
practice and propagate religion. The implications of these are:
(a)
Freedom of conscience: Inner freedom of an individual to mould his relation with
God or
Creatures
in whatever way he desires.
(b)
Right to profess: Declaration of one’s religious beliefs and faith openly and
freely.
(c)
Right to practice: Performance of religious worship, rituals, ceremonies and
exhibition of
beliefs
and ideas.
(d)
Right to propagate: Transmission and dissemination of one’s religious beliefs to
others or
exposition
of the tenets of one’s religion. But, it does not include a right to convert
another
person
to one’s own religion. Forcible conversions impinge on the ‘freedom of
conscience’
guaranteed
to all the persons alike.
From
the above, it is clear that Article 25 covers not only religious beliefs (doctrines)
but also
religious
practices (rituals). Moreover, these rights are available to all persons—citizens
as well as
non-citizens.
However,
these rights are subject to public order, morality, health and other provisions
relating to
fundamental
rights. Further, the State is permitted to:
(a)
regulate or restrict any economic, financial, political or other secular
activity associated with
religious
practice; and
(b)
provide for social welfare and reform or throw open Hindu religious
institutions of a public
character
to all classes and sections of Hindus.
Article
25 also contains two explanations: one, wearing and carrying of kirpans is to
be included in
the
profession of the Sikh religion; and two, the Hindus, in this context, include
Sikhs, Jains and
Buddhists.14
2. Freedom to Manage Religious Affairs
According to Article 26, every religious denomination or any of its section shall
have the following
rights:
(a)
Right to establish and maintain institu-tions for religious and charitable
purposes;
(b)
Right to manage its own affairs in matters of religion;
(c)
Right to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and
(d)
Right to administer such property in accordance with law.
Article
25 guarantees rights of individuals, while Article 26 guarantees rights of
religious
denominations
or their sections. In other words, Article 26 protects collective freedom of
religion.
Like
the rights under Article 25, the rights under Article 26 are also subject to
public order, morality
and
health but not subject to other provisions relating to the Fundamental Rights.
The
Supreme Court held that a religious denomination must satisfy three conditions:
(a)
It should be a collection of individuals who have a system of beliefs
(doctrines) which they
regard
as conductive to their spiritual well-being;
(b)
It should have a common organisation; and
(c)
It should be designated by a distinctive name.
Under
the above criteria, the Supreme Court held that the ‘Ramakrishna Mission’ and ‘Ananda
Marga’
are religious denominations within the Hindu religion. It also held that
Aurobindo Society is
not
a religious denomination.
3. Freedom from Taxation for Promotion of a Religion
Article 27 lays down that no person shall be compelled to pay any
taxes for the promotion or
maintenance
of any particular religion or religious denomination. In other words, the State
should not
spend
the public money collected by way of tax for the promotion or maintenance of
any particular
religion.
This provision prohibits the State from favouring, patronising and supporting
one religion
over
the other. This means that the taxes can be used for the promotion or
maintenance of all
religions.
This
provision prohibits only levy of a tax and not a fee. This is because the
purpose of a fee is to
control
secular administration of religious institutions and not to promote or maintain
religion. Thus, a
fee
can be levied on pilgrims to provide them some special service or safety
measures. Similarly, a
fee
can be levied on religious endowments for meeting the regulation expenditure.
4. Freedom from Attending Religious Instruction
Under
Article 28, no religious instruction
shall be provided in any educational institution wholly
maintained
out of State funds. However, this provision shall not apply to an educational
institution
administered
by the State but established under any endowment or trust, requiring imparting
of
religious
instruction in such institution.
Further,
no person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or
receiving aid out of
State
funds shall be required to attend any religious instruction or worship in that
institution without
his
consent. In case of a minor, the consent of his guardian is needed.
Thus,
Article 28 distinguishes between four types of educational institutions:
(a)
Institutions wholly maintained by the State.
(b)
Institutions administered by the State but established under any endowment or
trust.
(c)
Institutions recognised by the State.
(d)
Institutions receiving aid from the State.
In
(a) religious instruction is completely prohibited while in (b), religious
instruction is permitted. In
(c) and (d),
religious instruction is permitted on a voluntary basis.
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