ARTICLE ON- RULING ON RITUALS

SUBMITTED TO – Dr Vivek Kumar

FACULTY OF ICFAI LAW SCHOOL

SUBMITTED BY –
ANURAG KUMAR
PARVAT 19FLICDDN02037
B.A.LL. B, 4TH YEAR

SUBMISSION DATE – 17-03-2023

SIGNATURE OF FACULTY-

ICFAI LAW SCHOOL,

THE ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
In successfully completing this project, many people have helped me. I would like
to thank all those who are related to this project.

Primarily, I would thank God for being able to complete this project with success.
Then I will thank all the staff of my university and faculty of the subject of Code of
Civil Procedure Dr Vivek Kumar, under whose guidance I learned a lot about this
project. His suggestion and directions have helped in the completion of this project.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents and friends who have helped me with
their valuable suggestions and guidance and have been very helpful in various
stages of project completion.

Anurag Kumar Parvat

 RULING ON RITUALS
Religion is the very basis of human life, a way of living life which not only the
following the faith but also basis of right and wrong, because followers who follow
certain religion make a certain way of living life with certain moral obligation to
follow rules and regulations of living life in certain manner.

The Constitution of India guarantees and provide various fundamental rights in Part
III. Among them, the freedom of religion is one which is provided under Articles 25-
28 of the Constitution of India. India, which has almost all religions contained is a
secular nation which gives every citizen the right to practice religion in which they
believe in.
A secular state is the state where there is no official religion and people or citizens
have right to practice any religion. Secularismis defined in the case of S.R. Bommai
v. Union of India where it was held that "secularism is a fundamental feature of the
Indian Constitution". Thus, in India there is no official religion and people have the
right to practice any religion or faith they believe in.

Every citizen in India has this right and freedom to preach, practice and propagate
the religion and faith of his choice. This freedom also provides an opportunity to
spread it among all citizens without any kind fear of government interference. But
the state and its people are also expected to practice it amicably within the country's
jurisdiction and without terrorizing others. India is a land of diversity in terms of
race, creed, religion and community. India is unbiased and impartial when it comes
to the exercising the religion and faith. Our Constitution of India ensures that no
citizen shall be deprived of the right to practice and profess his religion and faith.

The term "secularism" is omnipresent i.e., widespread in the Indian Constitution. The
42nd Amendment to Constitution of India in 1976 inserted the term "secular" in our
Preamble. In the 42nd amendment there were direct provisions, but their languages
were res Ipsa loquitor i.e., the thing speaks for itself. As far as secularism is
concerned, our Constitution has great respect for freedom of once faith and the
concept is given utmost importance in our Constitution. Secularism is often held in
high esteem and with great pride for our country and enjoys dignified recognition in the
eyes of the law. The granting of this right is, according to the Constitution, it’s main
goal is to give every person the opportunity to openly declare, without hesitation,
whatever religion the
person believes or wishes to profess. This area has large number of judgments
specifically which are dealing with secularism, such as if we throw light in the case
of
S.R. Bommai and the case of Keshvananda Bharti v. Union of India, where it was
held that secularism is a fundamental feature of the Indian Constitution and no
provision of the law and legislature can be enacted to abrogate or abridge that right
of particular individual.

Throughout India's history, if we look the religion has been an important part of the
country's culture, and our Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of four major
religions of the world which are: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

After more than about 70 years of India's independence from British colonial rule,
Indians generally feel that their country has somewhat fulfilled one of its post-
independence ideal which is forming a society where followers of many religions can
live and practice freely their faith.

India has massive population and is diverse and dedicated nation as well. India is not
only the home to the majority of the world's Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, which are kind
of only religions present in India or very few countries but also home to one of the
world's largest Hindu populations And millions of Christians and Buddhists as well
as Muslims.

A major new Research Centre survey as researched in religion in India, which was
based on nearly 30,000 face- to-face interviews with adults conducted in 18
languages between late 2019 and early 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic),
found out that Indians of all these religious environments, say they are very free to
practice their faith. This fact is very true. , And tolerance in such matters is a
religious as well as a civic value: It is a matter of pride for Indians. The Indians are
united in this view that respect for other religions is a kind of very important part of
what it means to be a member of their own religious community as per faith.

The only Indian religion covered exclusively by the secular ("civil") law of India is
Brahmanism beginning with Act III of 1872.

Aspects of religion

The major aspects of religion are Rituals, customs and worship which are very
prominent in an individual's daily life. These aspects are also the main organizer of
social life and religious life. The degree of religiosity in an individual or a
community varies among individuals and communities. In the recent decades,
religious orthodoxy and observance or orthodox belief have become less common in
Indian society, especially among the coming young urban generation and dwellers.

Rituals

Most of the hindus observe religious rituals at their home. However, the observance
of rituals has bee varied widely between regions, individuals and villages . Devoted
Hindus mostly perform daily chores such as worshiping at early morning after
bathing (usually at the home and typically involving lightinga diya and offering food
before idols of deities), they usually recite religious scriptures, singing aartis in
praise of the gods. Most of the religious acts presuppose a degree of impurity for the
practitioner that must be neutralized before the commencement of ritual procedures.
The belief in efficacy of sacrifice of the practitioner is everything. The concept of
merit, which is earned byperforming charity or good deeds(dharma) that accumulates
over time and is gifted with in heaven and reduces suffering in the nextlife. Most of
the devoted Muslims offer prayers five times daily at a specific time of day, which is
marked by the aazan(call to prayer) from local mosques through loudspeakers. A
recent study by some committee found that 40% of Muslim children study in
madrassas (Islamic schools).
Religion and
politics Policy-
The Religious ideology, is particularly
expressed by Hindutva movement, which
strongly influences the Indian politicsin end of
the 20th century. Most of the basicelements of
communalism and casteism arose during
British rule, especially after the late 1920s the
higher authorities often politicizedreligion. The
Indian Councils Act of 1909 which is also
known as the Morley-Minto Reforms Act,
which established separate
Hindu and Muslim electorates for the Imperial
Legislature and Provincial Councils, was this
ideology of dividing on the basis that of
religion. This was mainly for
i n c r e a s i n g tension between the Hindu and
Muslim communities. Due to the high degree
of oppression faced by the lowercastes,
particularly hindus most of the hindus
converted to other religions mainly Buddhism
and Christianity and the Indian constitution
included affirmative action provisions for those
sections of Indian society. In response, many
Bharatiya Janata Party which was mainly inclined
towards reforming the hindus and in the states in
which BJP ruled the laws were introduced to
makeit more difficult; they argued that such
conversions are often forced or enticed. The
BJP, has also received widespread media
coverage after its leaders aligned themselves
with the Ayodhya Ram mandir (Ram
Janmabhoomi movement) and other high-
profile hindu inclined religious issues.

The Indian political parties were accused by their rivals that they playvote bank
politics, and they lend their political support to issues only to win the votes of
community. Both Congress party and BJP have been accused of exploiting people on
their belief and faith by indulging in vote bank politics. In the case of Mohd Ahmed
Khan vs Shah Bano, which was a divorce case, the Congress party was accused of
appeasing Muslim orthodoxy by parliamentary amendment that neglected Supreme
Court ruling. The BJP released an inflammatory CD targeting Muslims during the
election campaign in Uttar Pradesh. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) highly
condemned this stating it as the worst kind of vote bankpolitics. Caste-based politics
in India is very famous. Caste- based discrimination and the reservation system are
major hot issues of India.
Education
During the BJP rule in late 1970s, government was accused of being too sympathetic
to the Hindu point of view. In 2002 also the BJP-led NDA government attempted to
change NCERT textbooks through a new national curriculum framework,
"saffronisation" of textbooks, with saffron being the color of the Hindutva as well as
BJP flag.
Law of India
The system that operates in India here refers to law of India. It is based on English
law due to long period of British colonial rule. The various laws which were
introduced by Britishers are still in force today in their modified forms. When our
Indian Constitution was being drafted, laws from Ireland, US, Britain and France
were synthesized to produce a refined set of Indian laws. The Indian laws follow UN
guidelines on human rights and environmentallaws. Some international trade laws
such as IPR are also enforced in India.

An exception to this rule is the state of Goa which was once a Portugese colony so
there the Portuguese Uniform Civil Code applies,in which all religions have a
uniform law regarding marriage, divorce and adoption of children.
Religion in India

India is a diverse country where we have freedom to practice any faith and religious
tolerance is established both in law and custom.

The Indian census showed that Hinduism represented 60.5% of India's population.
The secondlargest religion is Islam with about 33.4% of the population. The third
largest religion is Christianity with 5.3%. The fourth largest religion is Sikhism with
about 1.9% of India's population. This diversity of religion exists in India is result of
the existence and birth of indigenous religions, as well as the assimilation from all
over the world.
The hospitality of Hindus towards all other religions as stated by John Hobbes,
however the 1most significant feature of contemporary Hinduism is the creation of a
non-Hindu state in which all religions are equal".
Other Indian religions, Buddhism and Jainism also contribute to diversity. Our
Ancient India had two philosophical schools of thought, the Vedic religion, sramana
religion school of thought in parallel traditions coexisted from thousands of years.
Both religions Buddhism and Jainism took birth from Shamanic traditions, while
modern Hinduism came from the Vedic tradition. Zoroastrianism and Judaism also
have forefathers in India.

India is a secular republic as per

Indian constitution and it must
uphold the right of its citizens to
freely worship any God and
propagate any religion or belief even
atheism but follow the law and order
and act should be in boundation of
basic morality.

Hindus including many other

religions such as budhism, Jainism
and Sikhism are generally tolerant of
each other's religions and which
maintain a secular outlook, but
interfaith marriage is not widely
practiced in India. Different
Community clashes have found little
support in the social mainstream.
The main causes of

1
Adi Saiva Sivachariyargal … v. Govt. Of Tamil Nadu & Anr, High Court of Madras, on 16 December 2015
[W.P. (C) 354 OF 2006,355 of 2006,383 of 2006, and 384 of 2006]

Ataullah v. Azim Ullah, (1890) ILR 12 All 494.

Athan Sadagopachariar Swamigal v. Elayavalli Srinivasachariar, (1913) M.W.N. 289. Agrama, Hussein Ali.
2010. “Secularism, Sovereignty, Indeterminacy: Is Egypt a Secular or a Religious State?” Comparative Studies
in Society and History 52(3):1–29.

Baird, Robert D. [1993] 2005. “On Defining ‘Hinduism’ as a Religious and a Legal Category.” Pp. 69–86 in
Religion and Law in Independent India, edited by R.D. Baird. 2nd enlarged edition. New Delhi: Manohar.
religious conflict to be political other
can be ideological in nature.
Persons governed by Hindu law

HINDU BY BIRTH: If both parents are Hindus, their children, whether legitimate or
illegitimate, automatically become Hindus.

HINDU BY FAITH OR CONVERSION TO HINDUISM: It used to be said that "The Hinduis

horn and not made".

IMPOSSIBLE CHILDREN: Illegitimate children born to Hindu parents or both parents.

IMPOSSIBLE CHILDREN: Illegitimate children born to a Christian father and a Hindu

mother and brought up as Hindus.

JAIN SIKH, BUDDHIST LINGAYAT, BRAHMOS, ARYA SAMAJ: Jain, Sikh, Buddhist,
Lingayat, Brahmos, Arya Samajist and Santhals of Chota Nagpuri unless they change
according to custom.

A person who is Hindu by birth and who has renounced Hinduism and reverted back to
Hinduism either by religious rituals or by community recognition.

Sons of Naik caste Hindu dancing girls who have converted to Muhammadanism, but whose
sons are brought up as Hindus by Hindu grandparents.

To Hindus who have declared themselves not to be Hindus for the purposes of the Special
Marriage Act, 1872.

Effect of conversion under Indian Hindu law

Applicability of Hindu Law

Christianity: Before the Indian Succession Act of 1925, a Hindu convert to Christianity couldopt
for the Hindu faith.

Following the passage of the Indian Succession Act, Hindu converts to Christianity are
governed by the Indian Succession Act.

Muhammadanism: A Hindu converted to Muhammadanism has no option of retaining Hindu

personal law and is governed by Muslim personal law.
Hinduism: Any hidden Hinduism from another religion has no caste, but if he professes the
Hindu faith, that is enough for the application of Hindu law.

Effect of transfer on inheritance rights

In old times, those who used to convert their religion to another were not able to get the
property of previous religion. But the Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850 ended the said
denial of the convert's heritage rights.

Effect of conversion on conjugal rights

The Hindu Marriage Act of 1956 says that if any of husband or wife converts to
another religion, theother spouse is authorized to divorce.
Effect of the transfer on the right to alimony

A husband among the couple that converts from Hinduism to other religion cannot
ask for maintenance. However, if the Hindu refuses to follow Hinduism himself, the
Hindu wife can assert a separate residence from him.
Effect of conversion on guardianship

If a guardian refuses to follow his religion and further changes then, he cannot act as guardian
of a minor.
Conclusion
As reading this article we can observe that the birth of Hindu law and sanatan
dharma is one of the oldest laws in the world. Hindu law is a way of living life in
history of world and with the creation of the VedicShastras and literature Hindu law
was the basic pillar in the formulation of modern laws. It is not only followed by
sanatanis or Hindus but also by a large section of Jews, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists.
We can also say that Hindu law also led to conceptualization which led to Muslim
and Christian laws in India of personal laws for various religious groupsin India,
Hindu law derived its rules from various ancient sources such as customs, dharma
shastras, shrutis and commentaries, but the relevance and importance of Hindu law is
evident from the fact that it now derives power from modern sources of law such as
codification, judgementand non-statutory law. This shows how important Hindu law
is not only for our country India but also for world as it governs more than 100
million Hindus spread all over the world.
At the end of the article, we can conclude that law and religion are inseparable and so the title
ruling on Rituals. Religion is the very basis of the conceptualization of law anywhere in the
world from bygone times to the modernworld. It is hence proved by Hindu law as well as
other person.