The State of Rajasthan has notified the Supreme Court that it is actively developing an anti-conversion law. This was detailed in an affidavit filed in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) aimed at curbing fraudulent and coerced religious conversions. The state acknowledged that it currently lacks specific legislation addressing religious conversions.

However, the State submitted that it "is in the process of bringing its own legislation and till such time will strictly abide by the law on the subject and guidelines issued by the Supreme Court."

The petition was filed by BJP member Advocate Ashwini Upadhyaya in 2022, requesting the Union and States to implement stringent measures to curb fraudulent religious conversions and those carried out through intimidation, threats, deceptive luring, or offers of gifts and monetary benefits.

In November 2022, during deliberations on the petition, a bench led by Justices MR Shah and Hima Kohli remarked that allegations of forced religious conversions, if substantiated, constituted a "serious issue" potentially impacting national security. The Court consequently requested the Centre and the States to provide their responses on the matter.

The Court also took exception to some statements made by the petitioner in the petition that were derogatory of minority religions and asked him to remove them. The Court also removed the name of the petitioner from the causetile and changed it to "In Re: The Issue Of Religious Conversion."

In addition to this petition, the Court has consolidated other PILs challenging the laws enacted by various States such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Gujarat concerning religious conversions.

Recently, during a hearing on another case, a Supreme Court bench made oral observations suggesting that certain provisions of the anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh seemed to contravene Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom.

Case Title: In Re: The Issue Of Religious Conversion WP(C) No. 63 of 2022