The Bhajan Lal Sharma-led Rajasthan government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it was in the process of bringing its own legislation against religious conversion through illegal means in the state. The government also stated that till the time there is no legislation on the subject it will the directions issued by the apex court.
"The state of Rajasthan is in the process of bringing its own legislation and till such time, it will strictly abide by the law on the subject, guidelines or the directions passed by this Hon'ble court," the state government said in its affidavit filed in the apex court, as quoted by news agency PTI.
The affidavit by Additional Superintendent of Police Bharat Lal Meena was filed in a 2022 PIL.
A PIL was filed by Lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay seeking directions to the Centre and the state governments to take "stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conversion and religious conversion by intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits". He filed the PIL through advocate Ashwani Dubey
The Supreme Court had said that religious conversions are a "serious issue". It said that if the allegations of forced conversions were true, the matter could have an impact on the nation's security. The top court had sought the response of the Centre.
The SC changed the cause title of the case from 'Ashwini Upadhyay Vs State' to "In Re: The Issue Of Religious Conversion" after apparently taking note of certain alleged derogatory remarks against a minority community made in the petition, as reported by PTI.
According to PTI, the bench is also seized of several petitions challenging anti-conversion laws of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and some other states on the grounds that they are allegedly discriminatory towards a particular minority community.