The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that a three-judge bench will decide the validity of the laws enacted by various States to curb forced religious conversion.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was dealing with plea moved by National Council of Churches in India.
The Court was told that it is already seized of various similar petitions challenging religious conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, among other States.
Considering the importance of the matter, the Court ordered that it be placed before a three-judge bench.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta earlier informed the Court that the Central government's response in the case is ready and will be filed shortly.
Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora appeared for the petitioner National Council of Churches in India.
The Court today issued notice on the plea challenging the conversion laws across different States and ordered that a counter be filed within 4 weeks.
"Let respondents file a common counter affidavit," it directed.
Last year, the Court had transferred to itself the petitions that were pending before various High Courts challenging the validity of State laws on religious conversion.
In 2021, the Court had allowed the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to intervene in one of the cases, after it alleged that a large number of Muslims were being harassed across the country by invoking such anti-conversion laws.
[Live Coverage]