Overview

• Chief Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran gave Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand and Karnataka four weeks to respond, with the matter listed after six weeks.
• The Court appointed Srishti Agnihotri for petitioners and Ruchira Goel for respondent states as nodal counsel to coordinate records and submissions.
• Petitioners including Citizens for Justice and Peace, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and the National Federation of Indian Women cited harsher provisions, highlighting Uttar Pradesh’s 2024 amendment with a minimum 20-year term, twin bail conditions and third-party complaints.
• The bench allowed petitioners to amend their pleas to challenge recent changes such as the UP amendments and permitted rejoinders two weeks after state replies.
• The Court noted earlier High Court stays on parts of the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh laws, took on record the states’ challenges to those orders, and de-tagged a separate PIL seeking a nationwide anti-conversion statute.