The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday approved a draft ordinance to curb religious conversions for marriage, described as “love jihad” by multiple BJP leaders.

According to the draft, which will become law once the governor promulgates it, a marriage will be declared “null and void” if the conversion of a woman is solely for that purpose.

The Adityanath government, which was one of several BJP state regimes to threaten such a law, went ahead and cleared the draft even after Allahabad High Court ruled that the right to choose a life partner “irrespective of religion” is intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty and that encroachments on personal relationships would be “a threat to the concept of unity in diversity”.

The bench said a high court judgment this September and another in 2014 that ruled against conversion for marriage were not good in law. Adityanath had cited the September ruling when he promised such a law last month.

Justices Pankaj Naqvi and Vivek Agarwal quashed an FIR lodged by a man against his daughter’s husband, whom she had married after converting to Islam.

“Interference in a personal relationship would constitute a serious encroachment into the right to freedom of choice of the two individuals,” the court said.

While allowing the writ petition by Salamat Ansari and Priyanka Kharwar alias Alia of Kushinagar, the judges cited Article 21 of the Constitution that deals with personal liberty.

“To disregard the choice of a person who is of the age of majority would not only be antithetic to the freedom of choice of a grown-up individual but would also be a threat to the concept of unity in diversity,” the bench added.

“We do not see Priyanka Kharwar and Salamat as Hindu and Muslim, rather as two grown-up individuals who out of their own free will and choice are living together peacefully and happily for over a year,” the court said.

“The courts and the constitutional courts in particular are enjoined to uphold the life and liberty of an individual guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the ruling said.

“The right to live with a person of his/her choice irrespective of religion professed by them is intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty. Interference in a personal relationship would constitute a serious encroachment into the right to freedom of choice of the two individuals,” the court said.

The draft ordinance cleared by the Adityanath government proposes to do just that. Under the draft, those wishing to change their religion after marriage need to apply to the district magistrate and can proceed only after receiving permission.

Punishment is a jail term from one to five years, and a fine of Rs 15,000. If the woman involved is a minor or a Dalit or tribal, the jail term would range from three to 10 years. The fine would increase to Rs 25,000.