UP Anti-Conversion Law Puts Onerous Conditions, Mandate To Publish Details Of Converted Person May Need Scrutiny : Supreme Court

The article reports on a Supreme Court hearing in which a Bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra quashed FIRs against officials of Sam Higginbottom University but expressed serious concerns about several provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The Court observed that the Act imposes onerous pre- and post-conversion procedures requiring advance declarations, police inquiries, and publication of personal details of converts, which may intrude upon the fundamental rights to privacy, conscience, and belief. The Bench questioned whether such statutory mandates align with constitutional protections under Article 25 and the right to privacy recognised in K.S. Puttaswamy. Although the Act’s validity was not directly under challenge, the Court flagged the risk of excessive state interference in matters of faith and personal autonomy, suggesting that aspects of the law may require constitutional scrutiny.