Amid allegations of forced religious conversion and harassment at Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) Nashik branch, a new application has been submitted to the Supreme Court. The application, part of the ongoing religious conversion case, highlights the need for stricter legal actions against conversions involving force, fraud, coercion, or inducement.
Multiple female employees at TCS’s Nashik office have reported harassment by senior staff members between 2022 and 2026. They claim to have faced pressure to adopt specific religious practices or convert to another faith. The application emphasizes that such organized religious conversions pose a significant threat to various fundamental values of the country.
Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the applicant, argues that the Constitution does not protect conversions achieved through deceit, force, coercion, or cheating. The right to propagate religion, he asserts, does not extend to converting individuals against their will. Referring to previous Supreme Court rulings, the application notes that Article 25 only allows the spread of one’s religion, not the conversion of others.
The plea suggests that systematic forced conversions should be treated as organized crime, involving coercion, fraud, intimidation, and exploitation. It calls for such acts to be considered potential terrorist activities under specific legal provisions if they threaten public order or national integrity. The applicant urges the government to introduce stricter laws to regulate and prevent unlawful religious conversions.
The TCS Nashik incident has sparked calls for a thorough investigation from various political quarters. While Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Nirupam termed the allegations as serious and alarming, demanding accountability from TCS, the Bharatiya Janata Party emphasized the need for stringent action against coercive conversions. The controversy, which began with accusations of misconduct, has led to arrests and ongoing probes by Maharashtra authorities.
