The Supreme Court stated that it will consider a batch of pleas filed seeking a stay on Anti-conversion laws that have been enacted and enforced in various states. A bench of CJI B.R. Gavai and K. Vinod Chandran has sought the response of various State governments including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand to pleas challenging anti-conversion laws within a period of four weeks. The Court has listed the matter to be heard next in six weeks.
The bench was hearing the batch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of laws in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand and Karnataka.
In this regard, notice has been issued to Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The top court has asked the states to file their reply in four weeks. At the same time, the next hearing will be held after 6 weeks. The Supreme Court said that after the states file their reply, the demand to ban the law will be considered.
Among the petitioners are organisations like Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and Citizens for Justice and Peace. It has been said in the petitions that these laws have become a means of harassing couples belonging to different religions. Under the guise of these, anyone can be implicated in the charge of conversion.
Senior Advocate Chander Uday Singh, appearing for Citizens for Justice and Peace commented that while these laws are called the “Freedom of Religion Act”, they are curtailing the religious freedom of minorities and targeting interfaith marriages and religious practices, as reported by Live Law.
