SC seeks Rajasthan Government’s response on plea challenging validity of anti-conversion law

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Rajasthan Government on a petition challenging the validity of the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2025.

A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta asked the Rajasthan Government to respond to the petition filed by the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties and others and clubbed it with other petitions raising similar issues.

The petitioners have sought a declaration that provisions of the Act are “arbitrary, unreasonable, illegal and ultra vires” the Constitution and also violative of Articles, including Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty).

On November 17, the top court had asked the Rajasthan government and others to respond to another petition challenging the validity of the Act.

On November 3, the top court had agreed to hear two separate petitions challenging the validity of several provisions of the law against illegal religious conversions that came into force in Rajasthan.

In September, another Bench had issued notices to several states on separate petitions seeking a stay on their respective anti-conversion laws of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand and Karnataka.

The top court had said that it would consider the prayer for staying the operation of such laws once the replies were filed.