MUMBAI, India – Anti-conversion laws in twelve states in India are being challenged by the National Council of Churches of India, which has filed a writ petition challenging the constitutionality of such legislation in the Supreme Court.
Hindu nationalists often accuse Christians of using force and surreptitious tactics in pursuing conversions, often storming into villages and leading “reconversion” ceremonies in which Christians are compelled to perform Hindu rituals.
These pressures on Christians, which also affect Muslims and other religious minorities, are part of what observers describe as a broad program for the “saffronization” of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meaning an attempt to impose Hindu values and identity while squeezing out rival faiths.
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Hindus make up nearly 80 percent of the country, and Christians – the majority of them Catholics – only make up 2.3 percent of the nation.
The states having their anti-conversion laws being challenged are Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi placed the matter with other similar petitions related to religious conversion laws. The petitions will be heard by a three-judge bench, according to a report in LiveLaw.
The NCCI stated that it is made up of 32 Member Churches, 17 Regional Christian Councils, 18 All India Organisations and 7 Related Agencies and that it represented about 14 million people in India.
In December 2025, the Court had issued notice on a petition filed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India challenging the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2025.
The new petitioner has challenged the laws on the grounds of being discriminatory, arbitrary and vaguely worded.
Rev. Asir Ebenezerof the Church of South India (CSI) is the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI). The NCCI comprises 32 member churches and has nearly 14 million Christians, predominantly belonging to Dalit Christians and Tribals Christians.
“The rampant atrocities all over India against the Christian community are going unabated,” he told Crux.
“Even approaching the Governments have neither curtailed nor stopped the violence against Christians. Even though there are Constitution guarantees, the anti conversion Bills are cutting at the roots of Freedom of Religion and Beliefs, hence the NCCI has approached the Apex Court of the country,” he added.
