The Supreme Court has allowed a petitioner to club Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as parties in case challenging the controversial religious conversion laws or so-called ‘love jihad’ laws brought in by UP and Uttarakhand governments.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday has permitted an NGO to make Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh parties to the pending petition against the state laws that seek to check incidents of ‘love jihad’ and religious conversions in interfaith marriages.

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde also allowed Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind to become a party to the petition on the grounds that a large number of Muslims are being harassed under these ‘love jihad’ laws across the country.

The Supreme Court had on January 6 agreed to examine the controversial ‘love jihad’ laws of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand regulating religious conversions after interfaith marriages.

The bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, however refused to stay the controversial provisions of the laws and issued notices to the UP and Uttarakhand governments on two different petitions.

The pleas, filed by advocate Vishal Thakre and others and an NGO ‘Citizen for Justice and Peace’, have challenged the Constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018 which regulate religious conversions of interfaith marriages.

The original piece may be read here.