New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of anti-conversion laws enacted by several states across the country.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi sought responses within four weeks from the Union government and the concerned states, and directed that the matter be heard along with similar petitions already pending before the apex court.
The plea, filed by the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), challenges the Freedom of Religion Acts enacted by Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha.
Observing that the issue raises questions of constitutional significance, the CJI Surya Kant-led Bench said the matter would be considered by a three-judge Bench.
Filed through advocate Niharika Ahluwalia, the petition contends that the impugned laws violate fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, 19, 21, 25, 26 and 30 of the Constitution, and seeks a declaration declaring the statutes unconstitutional.
As interim relief, the plea urges the top court to restrain state police authorities from taking coercive action under the challenged laws. It argues that the Acts are based on an “unconstitutional presumption” that religious conversions involving adults are inherently coerced or fraudulent, thereby subjecting matters of individual conscience to prior government approval.
The petition submits that provisions requiring prior intimation, inquiry and permission from district authorities invert the citizen–state relationship, undermine individual autonomy, and violate decisional privacy, dignity and freedom of religion.
It further claims that statutory definitions of terms such as “conversion”, “allurement”, “inducement” and “undue influence” are vague and overly broad, granting unchecked discretion to authorities and resulting in arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.
The plea also highlights the expansion of the category of complainants to unrelated third parties, alleging that this has enabled vigilante groups to trigger criminal proceedings without any complaint from the allegedly aggrieved individual. This, it argues, has led to arrests, prolonged incarceration, denial of bail and social stigma.
Referring to provisions that reverse the burden of proof, the petition states that the laws undermine core principles of criminal jurisprudence, including the presumption of innocence and procedural fairness. It also flags what it describes as “paternalistic and gendered assumptions”, particularly provisions treating women as inherently vulnerable to unlawful conversion.
The plea further cites India’s international human rights obligations, contending that state control over religious conversion is incompatible with commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The respondents in the case include the Centre and the twelve states that have enacted the challenged legislation.
With inputs from IANS