SC allows inclusion of Himachal, MP in petition challenging 'love jihad' laws
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (February 17) allowed the inclusion of the governments of Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in a petition that challenges the 'love jihad' laws brought into force by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (February 17) allowed the inclusion of Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in a petition that challenges the ‘love jihad’ laws brought into force by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments.
The court permitted an NGO to make Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh parties to the pending petition against the ‘love jihad’ laws, which prohibit religious conversion through interfaith marriages.
Petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020, and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018, have been filed by advocate Vishal Thakre and others and the NGO Citizen for Justice and Peace.
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An SC bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde also allowed Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind to become a party to the petition on the grounds that a large number of Muslims are being harassed under the laws.
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The bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, however, refused to stay the controversial provisions of the laws and issued notices to the UP and Uttarakhand governments on two different petitions.
