Highlights:
- Another PIL was filed in the SC questioning the constitutional validity of the legislation passed over Unlawful Religious Conversion law in the states of Himachal & MP
- The NGO said the implementation of the Madhya Pradesh Ordinance comes in the face of harassment of couples who are deprived of their right to marry according to their will
- The PIL also challenged the constitutional validity of the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018 & Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020.
A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court by the Mumbai-based NGO Justice and Peace (CJP) challenging the constitutional validity of the ‘love jihad’ laws passed by Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The petition was filed on behalf of the NGO by Advocate Tanima Kishore, who also questioned the constitutional validity of similar laws in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, namely the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018 and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020.
The petitioner claimed that the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019 and the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020 were both enacted and requested the Supreme Court to add the State of Himachal Pradesh and the State of Madhya Pradesh as respondents to question the constitutional validity of the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019 and the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2020 respectively.
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According to the petition, one month after the issuance of the Uttar Pradesh Ordinance, the Himachal Pradesh Act was notified, the petitioner claimed that the decision was not based on any substantial statistics of alleged instances of love jihad.
The petitioner claimed that the implementation of the Madhya Pradesh Ordinance comes in the face of harassment of young vulnerable couples who are deprived of their right to marry any person on their own free will.
In addition, the petition says that Indian people enjoy the right to privacy as a fundamental right, but as they try to regulate the lives of the citizens of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, the Acts and Ordinances are unconstitutional.
“Over the years, Love Jihad has played to divide the country without official numbers or evidence of forced conversions and that from the very beginning the fears of rising “love jihad” cases have been “baseless.
In the light of the above facts, the petitioner demanded that the application filed for a stay of the conversion laws in the Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states be amended.
