The Supreme Court of India has agreed to examine a fresh legal challenge against the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2025. On Monday, the apex court issued notices to both the Rajasthan state government and the Central government, seeking their formal responses to a plea that claims the new legislation violates fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi presided over the matter. During the proceedings, the bench decided to tag this new petition with several other pending cases that also challenge the validity of the 2025 Act, ensuring a consolidated judicial review of the controversial law.
The fresh plea asks the top court to declare the Rajasthan Act “unconstitutional and void.” The petitioners argue that the law is ultra vires (beyond the legal power) of Part III of the Constitution, which protects fundamental rights including the right to privacy and the freedom to practice and propagate religion.
The legislation in question was passed by the Rajasthan State Assembly in September 2024 and has since faced significant scrutiny from civil rights advocates. This is not the first time the Supreme Court has intervened; it had previously sought responses from the state government on a separate petition targeting the same Act.
The Rajasthan case is now part of a much larger judicial battle occurring at the national level. The Supreme Court is currently managing a batch of petitions challenging similar anti-conversion laws enacted by various states across India.
These states include:
- Uttar Pradesh
- Madhya Pradesh
- Himachal Pradesh
- Uttarakhand
- Chhattisgarh
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
The outcome of these deliberations is expected to set a major precedent regarding the state’s power to regulate personal religious choices versus an individual’s constitutional right to freedom of religion.
