The Supreme Court has deferred the hearing of a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of the amendments to the Uttar Pradesh unlawful conversion law, which imposes jail terms of 7 to 14 years for faith change through allurements, inducements, coercion or fraud.

A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan said the matter would be heard on May 13 along with another set of petitions filed by individuals challenging similar laws enacted by Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The petition, jointly filed by Roop Rekha Verma, Srivastava Rakesh Kumar and Michael Vijay Williams, has alleged that the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, was a serious assault on the secular fabric of the country and an intrusion into the lives of citizens.

“The amended Act broadens the scope of complainants without incorporating procedural safeguards, enabling the prosecution of individuals practising their faith in good faith. Its vague and overbroad provisions violate the principle of legality, allowing innocent acts to be construed as criminal, leading to arbitrary enforcement and a chilling effect on fundamental rights,” Krishna told the court.

It said the Act wrongly assumes all women, regardless of their background, are vulnerable to illegal conversions, reinforcing harmful stereotypes and undermining their autonomy.