The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Supreme Court of India, challenging the constitutional validity and legality of the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026.The petition was filed through Shakir Sheikh, Secretary, APCR Maharashtra on Oct.14.
The Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, was published in the Maharashtra Government Gazette on July 30 following Presidential assent. The legislation contains provisions regulating religious conversion and prescribing procedural requirements and penal consequences.
APCR has raised concerns about provisions of the Act that raise substantial constitutional questions relating to freedom of conscience, freedom to profess, practise and propagate religion, personal liberty, privacy, equality before the law and equal protection of the laws. It has also questioned the constitutional limits on State interference in individual autonomy and the restrictions imposed on voluntary religious conversion.
APCR maintains that the constitutional validity of these provisions warrants judicial scrutiny because they affect fundamental rights and have implications for a broad section of people. Through the PIL, the organisation is seeking appropriate declarations, directions and other reliefs from the Apex Court, including interim protection or a stay of the impugned provisions, where legally maintainable.