The Madhya Pradesh government plans to challenge the high court’s interim order in the Supreme Court, which prevents it from prosecuting interfaith couples who marry without informing the district magistrate. The high court’s interim order prohibits the state government from prosecuting adults who marry of their own free will under section 10 of the MP Freedom of Religion Act (MPFRA). A division bench of Justices Sujoy Paul and PC Gupta observed that section 10, which requires citizens desiring religious conversion to declare it to the district magistrate beforehand, is unconstitutional. Advocate General Prashant Singh stated that the state government will challenge the high court’s interim order in the Supreme Court. The MPFRA prohibits conversions through misrepresentation, allurement, threat of force, coercion, marriage, or any other fraudulent means. Singh also mentioned that a plea will be filed in the Supreme Court soon. The high court’s interim direction came in response to seven petitions challenging provisions of the MPFRA, 2021. The petitioners requested interim relief to prevent the state from prosecuting anyone under the Act. The court granted the state government three weeks to file a point-by-point response to the petitions and allowed the petitioners to file a rejoinder within 21 days thereafter.
