SC to hear pleas challenging state laws regulating conversions

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on January 2 a batch of pleas challenging controversial state laws regulating religious conversions due to interfaith marriageA bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha is scheduled to hear the PILs filed by advocate Vishal Thakre and an NGO Citizens for Justice and PeaceThe Supreme Court will also hear a plea by Muslim body Jamiat UlamaIHind which it had allowed last year to become a party to the petitions as it claimed a large number of Muslims are being harassed under these laws across the countryAs per the office report uploaded on the apex court website so far no reply has been filed by the Centre or any of the states which have been made parties to the litigationOn February 17 2021 the top court had permitted the NGO to make Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh the parties to its pending petition by which it had challenged some controversial state laws regulating conversions due to interfaith marriagesThe apex court had on January 6 2021 agreed to examine certain controversial new laws of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand regulating religious conversions due to such marriagesAlso read EC initiates delimitation of assembly parliamentary constituencies in AssamIt had however refused to stay the controversial provisions of the laws and issued notices to both the state governments Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the petitions The pleas filed by Thakre and the NGO have challenged the Constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance 2020 and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act 2018 which regulate religious conversion of people in interfaith marriagesThe NGO had submitted during the last hearing that both Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh should be made parties to its plea as they have also framed laws on the lines of Uttar Pradesh and UttarakhandThe controversial UP ordinance relates to not only interfaith marriages but all religious conversions and lays down elaborate procedures for any person who wishes to convert to another religionThe Uttarakhand law entails a twoyear jail term to any person or persons found guilty of religious conversion through force or allurementiquest The allurement can be in cash employment or material benefit Thakre and others have said in their plea they are aggrieved by the ordinance which curtails the fundamental rights of the citizens of India provided under the ConstitutionThe plea said the laws passed by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand against Love Jihad and punishments thereof may be declared ultra vires and null and void because they disturb the basic structure of the Constitution as laid down by the lawIt claimed they are against public policy and society at largeThe plea filed by the NGO alleged the legislations violate Articles 21 and 25 as they empower the state to suppress an individuals personal liberty and the freedom to practice religion of ones choiceJamiat UlamaIHind in its application filed through advocate Ejaj Maqbool raises the issue of fundamental rights of the Muslim youth who are being allegedly targeted and demonised by using the impugned ordinance which in itself is unconstitutional being violative of Articles 14 21 and 25This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever