New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to respond to a plea challenging the 2024 amendments to the state’s anti-conversion law, citing concerns that vague provisions in the legislation could be misused to curb freedom of speech and religious propagation.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued a notice to the state government and tagged the plea with a batch of similar petitions already pending before the apex court.
The petition, filed by academician Roop Rekha Verma and others, challenges specific provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, as amended in 2024. The petitioners argue that key sections of the law are “vague and overly broad”, lacking clear standards and opening the door to arbitrary enforcement and discriminatory practices.
Filed through advocate Purnima Krishna, the plea contends that the law violates several fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, including Articles 14 (equality before law), 19 (freedom of speech and expression), 21 (right to life and personal liberty), and 25 (freedom of religion).
The law criminalizes religious conversions carried out through misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, or allurement, and prescribes imprisonment and fines. It also mandates individuals wishing to convert to provide advance notice to the district magistrate.
The petition argued that Sections 2 and 3 of the Act are too ambiguous to offer clear guidance on what constitutes an offence. “Penal laws must be precise; vague provisions violate constitutional principles by granting excessive discretion to authorities, failing to provide reasonable notice, and risking wrongful prosecution of innocent individuals,” the plea stated.
It added that the law presumes malicious intent behind all religious conversions and places adult individuals under state suspicion, thereby undermining their autonomy and personal choice.
A key concern raised was the amendment’s expansion of who can lodge complaints under the law, without adequate procedural safeguards, a move the petitioners said could lead to harassment and misuse.
Referring to Section 5, the plea criticized the law’s assumption that all women are inherently vulnerable to illegal conversion, calling it a “harmful stereotype” that undermines women’s agency.
The petition also questioned the proportionality of the punishments prescribed under the law, calling them excessive and unjustified. “The government, by assuming the role of protector of religious identities, encroaches on the individual’s right to choose their faith,” it said.
The state’s counsel informed the court that similar petitions challenging the law were already pending before a bench led by the Chief Justice of India. However, the petitioners clarified that their plea specifically targeted the amendments made in 2024.
The Supreme Court had earlier agreed to examine the matter on May 2 and is currently hearing multiple petitions challenging religious conversion laws enacted by various states.