SC to hear pleas related to religious conversions, state laws on March 17

The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will hear on March 17 pleas dealing with two separate issues of alleged fraudulent conversions and challenge to various state laws on religious conversions due to interfaith marriages respectivelyA bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was urged by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay who has filed a PIL in his personal capacity that his plea against fraudulent religious conversions was distinct from the batch of petitions which are challenging the validity of various state laws on religious conversionsI am neither supporting the state laws nor opposing them My petition deals with separate issue of fraudulent religious conversions the lawyer told the bench which also comprised Justices PS Narasimha and JB PardiwalaUpadhyay sought hearing on his PIL separatelyAll the petitions are before us on March 17 2023 the CJI said and for the time being ruled out the possibility of a separate hearing on the PILThe PIL has sought direction to the Centre and states to take tough steps to control fraudulent religious conversionsVarious petitions including the one filed by Jamiat UlamaeHind were filed challenging the validity of various state laws on anticonversionThe Muslim body also seek transfer of 21 cases to the top court that have challenged state laws regulating religious conversions due to interfaith marriagesOn February 3 the top court had sought the responses of the Centre and six states on a plea moved by the Muslim body seeking a transfer of 21 cases that have challenged state laws regulating religious conversionsAlso Read CJI administers oath of office to five new SC judges strength rises to 32The Muslim body has sought a transfer of three petitions pending in the Gujarat High Court five in the Allahabad High Court three in the Himachal Pradesh High Court three in the Jharkhand High Court six in the Madhya Pradesh High Court and one petition in the Karnataka High Court which have challenged the respective state lawsBesides two separate petitions have been filed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh challenging the interim orders of the respective high courts that stayed certain provisions of the state laws on conversionThe Uttar Pradesh law relates to not only interfaith marriages but all religious conversions and lays down elaborate procedures for anyone who wishes to convert to another religionThe Uttarakhand law entails a twoyear jail term for those found guilty of religious conversion through force or allurement The allurement can be in the form of cash employment or material benefitsThis 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