Summary:
New Delhi: The legal validity of the laws against unlawful conversions in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be examined by the Supreme Court, which issued notice to the two state governments and the Centre today.
The states have four weeks to respond before the next hearing.
The court`s decision came in response to a bunch of petitions which challenged the validity of the law, contending that they disturb the basic structure of the Constitution, and demanded that they be struck down as they violate secularism, equality and non-discrimination.
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New Delhi: The legal validity of the laws against unlawful conversions in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be examined by the Supreme Court, which issued notice to the two state governments and the Centre today.
The states have four weeks to respond before the next hearing.
The court`s decision came in response to a bunch of petitions which challenged the validity of the law, contending that they disturb the basic structure of the Constitution, and demanded that they be struck down as they violate secularism, equality and non-discrimination.
The Uttar Pradesh government`s Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020 and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018, prohibit forceful prohibition of conversion for the purposes of marriage.
Critics say the laws are the right wing`s offensive against what they have called "love jihad" -- a coinage for relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women, which, they say, is a ruse to forcibly convert the women. The laws, they say, will be used to target Muslim men.
Initially, the court was reluctant to examine the issue and asked the petitioners to approach High Courts.
"The challenge is pending before Allahabad and Uttarakhand High Courts.
Why cannot you go there?" said Chief Justice of India SA Bobde.