The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with a Chhattisgarh High Court order refusing to direct the removal of hoardings allegedly prohibiting the entry of pastors and converted Christians to some villages in the state’s Kanker district.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked petitioner Digbal Tandi, who had challenged the high court order, to approach the local district administration for relief.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who appeared for Tandi, argued that the high court had commented on the alleged trend of conversion to Christianity while passing the impugned order on October 28 last year. He argued that not a single person in the country had been convicted of illegal conversion in the last
decade.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, however, said the petitioner should seek relief from the district administration under the state’s panchayat laws.

Justice Nath, heading the bench, said the petitioner had an efficacious remedy under the state law and was free to approach the authorities concerned.

While dismissing Tandi’s plea, the high court had on October 28 last year said that the hoardings were intended to prevent “forcible conversion by way of allurement or fraudulent means and cannot be termed as unconstitutional”.

It had also held that the hoardings appeared to have been installed as a precautionary measure to protect indigenous tribes.