SC allows filing of plea to transfer petitions before HCs challenging anti-conversion laws of 7 States

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala told senior advocate Kapil Sibal to file an application for the transfer of petitions pending before the High Courts to the top court.

The Supreme Court on Monday permitted the filing of a plea for the transfer to the apex court of several petitions currently seized of by different High Courts relating to the controversial state laws regulating religious conversions due to interfaith marriage. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala told senior advocate Kapil Sibal to file an application for the transfer of petitions pending before the High Courts to the top court.

Petitions challenging the anti-conversion law are pending before the High Courts of Allahabad, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. The bench told Attorney General R Venkataramani that it will hear him on the question of whether these petitions are transferred or not to the top court on the next date of hearing.

Opposing the plea for the transfer of 21 petitions to the Supreme Court, Attorney General Venkataramani said that let High Courts decide the petition challenging the respective anti-conversion State laws before them and there is always an appeal against their decision before the top court. The petitions before seven High Courts challenge the laws to check conversion enacted by Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.

Sibal told the court that all the laws are similar. The bench posted the matter for further consideration on January 30. Senior advocate P Wilson, appearing for one petitioner, pointed out to the court that one of the petitioners - advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay - had in the past, twice filed petitions on the same issue and withdrew them, each time they came up for hearing and now once again he is before the top court raising the same issue of conversion.

Telling Upadhyay that such repeated filing of the petitions on the same issue was not proper, the bench said, "We will consider Wilson's objection at some later date." He had filed a plea claiming that fraudulent and deceitful religious conversion is rampant across the country.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta objected to the locus of the NGO Citizens for Justice & Peace challenging the Uttar Pradesh law relating to conversions. Several PILs were filed challenging against anti-conversion laws passed by some State governments.

The pleas challenging the law stated that the laws passed by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand against 'Love Jihad' and punishments thereof may be declared ultra vires and null and void because they disturb the basic structure of the Constitution as laid down by the law. (ANI)

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