India’s Supreme Court seeks Rajasthan’s response to challenges against 2025 anti-conversion law imposing 20-year jail, property demolition.
Newsroom (04/11/2025, Gaudium Press ) The Supreme Court of India has directed the Rajasthan government to submit its reply within four weeks to two petitions contesting the constitutional validity of the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2025, which imposes up to 20 years’ imprisonment for religious conversions deemed coercive or fraudulent.
A division bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta admitted the petitions—filed separately by Christian journalist and activist John Dayal and researcher M. Huzaifa—on Nov. 3. The petitioners sought immediate suspension of the law, which they described as “egregious.” The court deferred consideration of interim relief until the state responds.
The legislation, enacted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Rajasthan assembly on Sept. 9, criminalizes conversions through force, coercion, undue influence, allurement, marriage, or fraud. It also authorizes district collectors to grant prior approval for conversions and permits permanent bans on organizations found violating the act.
Critics highlight provisions allowing authorities to confiscate or demolish private property linked to alleged conversion cases before conviction. “Such measures grant sweeping powers to officers while minorities risk losing homes and businesses,” Dayal said in a statement to UCA News on Nov. 4. He accused the law of institutionalizing “bulldozer justice,” a practice the Supreme Court condemned last year in Uttar Pradesh.
Dayal welcomed the court’s decision to examine what he called “the most egregious anti-conversion law” in India, warning it allows the state to “bypass the judiciary entirely.”
Rajasthan becomes the 12th state to enact stringent anti-conversion legislation. Eleven others—Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand—most governed by the BJP, have similar laws. The Supreme Court is already hearing challenges to statutes in nine of these states.
Christian leaders allege that Hindu nationalist groups exploit such laws to file false conversion charges against minorities, with police in BJP-ruled states often siding with accusers.
In Rajasthan, Hindus constitute 88 percent of the 70 million population, Muslims 9 percent, and Christians 0.15 percent, per government data. Nationally, Christians form 2.3 percent of India’s 1.4 billion people, with Hindus comprising about 80 percent.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCA News
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