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When the scales tilt—Are our courts siding too often with the Centre?

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13.03.2026

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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

When the scales tilt—Are our courts siding too often with the Centre?

Is the Indian judiciary inadvertently supporting crypto-Christianity, where a convert to Christianity remains Hindu on paper in order to benefit from the various affirmative action programmes of the government?

A recent judgment of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justices Mukulika Jawalkar and Nandesh Deshpande, ruled that the mere presence of a Jesus statue or the symbol of the cross at someone’s home cannot be seen as proof of conversion to Christianity.

In a sense this is true, since Hindus often have no objection to venerating the sacred symbols of other religions. But if the burden of proof of conversion to Christianity is going to be set higher, it implies that the authorities need to be more intrusive in their investigations. Since this is not possible in every instance of suspected conversion, crypto Christians can get a free ride and the best of both worlds: the benefits offered by their new faith, and the compensations offered by the faith they claim to have been oppressed by.

On the one hand, they are free to abuse Hinduism for the caste system, on the other they can claim to be victims of the caste system and benefit from reservations in jobs and educational institutions by claiming........

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