SC to hear pleas challenging Rajasthan’s religious conversion legislation
SOCIETY – COMMUNALISM & SECULARISM
4 NOVEMBER 2025
- The Supreme Court agreed to hear two petitions challenging the validity of several provisions of the law against illegal religious conversions that came into force in Rajasthan in October 2025.
- The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2025 was passed by the State Assembly in September 2025.
- The Rajasthan law has a provision of imprisonment for 20 years to life for mass conversions through deception and a jail term of seven to 14 years for conversions by fraudulent means.
- Conversion of minors, women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and persons with disabilities through deceit would attract a jail term of 10 to 20 years and a fine of at least ₹10 lakh.
- The first such law was passed in Odisha in 1967, under Orissa Freedom of Religion Act.
- Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Rajasthan have also passed such laws.
