Pleas have been filed in the Supreme Court against the Uttar Pradesh's Ordinance, issued on November 24 to check incidents of 'love-Jihad' and similar law passed by Uttarakhand in 2018, saying it was against the public policy and society at large, besides curtailing fundamental rights of the citizen.
The move by the two state governments was also against the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, the petition filed jointly by two advocates and a law researcher claimed.
The plea challenged the validity of the 'Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020' and 'the Uttarakhand Freedom Of Religion Act, 2018'.
The petitioner's advocates Vishal Thakre and Abhay Singh Yadav and PhD student Pranvesh claimed such laws would create fear in the society.
"This would also become a potent tool in the hands of bad elements of the society to falsely implicate anyone. It would also harm the public at a large and will create a chaotic situation in the society," the plea claimed. They asked the court to declare the Ordinance and law as ultra vires of the Constitution and ensure those were not implemented.
A separate petition filed by advocate Neeraj Shukla questioned the validity of the UP government's Ordinance, saying the right to live with a person of his or her choice, irrespective of religion professed by them, was intrinsic to right to life and personal liberty.
The Yogi Adityanath government's Ordinance carried a maximum punishment of 10 years jail for conversion brought on fraud, deceit and misrepresentation of facts, for the purpose of marriage.
(Published 03 December 2020, 11:37 IST)
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