RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh High Court has granted the state government three weeks to file its objections and counter-affidavit in a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of the Chhattisgarh Dharma Swatantrya Act, 2026.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Krushna Ram Mohapatra and Justice Santosh Sharma passed the order while hearing a petition filed by V.N. Prasad Rao.
During the hearing, Government Advocate Rahul Tamaskar, appearing for the State of Chhattisgarh, submitted that multiple writ petitions raising similar issues and challenging various provisions of the Dharma Swatantrya Act were already pending before the High Court. He requested that notice be issued in the matter and sought three weeks’ time to file the state’s formal objections.
Appearing for the petitioner via video conference, Senior Advocate Dr S. Muralidhar, along with Senior Advocate Manoj Paranjpe and a team of assisting advocates, urged the court to consider the interim application separately after a brief adjournment to allow the state time to prepare its response.
Accepting the request for time, the Bench directed the state government to file its response.
“The State must submit its objection, if any, to the interim application, alongside its counter-affidavit to the main writ petition, within three weeks,” the court stated.
The court clarified that both parties would be given an opportunity to argue the plea for interim relief on the next date of hearing. It directed that the matter be listed immediately after the completion of the three-week period.
