SC notice to govt as church body challenges anti-conversion laws

One of the laws challenged by the association is the nearly 60-year-old Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967. Madhya Pradesh had enacted Chhattisgarh Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam in 1968 to prevent large-scale conversion of tribals. SC had upheld the constitutional validity of the Orissa and MP laws in 1977 in Rev Stanislaus vs State of MP case and said while the right to propagate religion is a fundamental right, it does not include right to convert.