This writ petition raises an important question concerning freedom to practice religion. The question is thus, “Do a person require a certificate from an institution to declare that she had converted to another religion or not, for effecting changes in the Government records?”

2. The petitioner, 'Aysha' was known before as 'Devaki'. Her school records would show that she had professed the religion of Hindu. Her son is a medical doctor converted to Islam. Thereafter, she has chosen the path of her son and embraced the religion of Islam. She approached the Government for notification of her change of name and change of religion. It appears that it has to be done through the Directorate of Printing Department of the State Government. By Ext.P6 proceedings, the Director of the Printing Department returned the application stating that the petitioner will have to produce a certificate issued by a recognized institute/organization declaring the conversion of the petitioner to Islam community. As evident from Exts.P7 (c) and (d) Government orders, the Government had authorized two organizations in the State for issuance of certificate of conversion into Islam community. They are M