ASSEMBLY CLEARS BILL AGAINST UNLAWFUL RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS
The bill replaces an ordinance promulgated in November; Opposition members say legislation should be referred to Select Committee
LUCKNOW: Amid protest by the Opposition parties, the Uttar Pradesh assembly on Wednesday passed a bill against unlawful religious conversions by voice vote.
The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill 2021 will replace an existing ordinance. The bill will now be sent to the upper house of the state legislature and later to the governor for her assent, after which it will become an act.
LUCKNOW : Amid protest by the Opposition parties, the Uttar Pradesh assembly on Wednesday passed a bill against unlawful religious conversions by voice vote.
The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill 2021 will replace an existing ordinance. The bill will now be sent to the upper house of the state legislature and later to the governor for her assent, after which it will become an act.
The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance was cleared by the state cabinet on November 24 and promulgated on November 28. It outlawed religious conversions by marriage, coercion, deceit or enticement.
Tabling the bill, parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna said the state government was not against religious conversion.
However, in the recent past, many incidents had come to light where gullible persons had been converted from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by fraudulent means, he said.
The law related to the right to religious freedom already existed in various states of the country but there was no statute on the said subject in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
Legislature party leaders Lalji Verma (Bahujan Samaj Party), Aradhana Mishra (Congress) and Samajwadi Party MLA Ujjawal Raman Singh said the bill should be referred to the select committee as the state government would use the provisions of the Act to target a particular community and people.
The bill prescribes a jail term varying from one to five years, in addition to fines of up to ₹15,000 for those convicted under it. The jail term goes up to 10 years and fine up to ₹25,000 for conversion of women belonging to scheduled caste or scheduled tribe communities or those who are minors. In case of mass conversion, the law has the provision for imprisonment of three to 10 years and a minimum fine of ₹50,000
According to the bill, the court shall grant appropriate compensation payable by the accused to the victim of the conversion, which may be extended to maximum to Rs 5 lakh and shall be in addition to the fine.
The bill also provides that any marriage done for the sole purpose of unlawful conversion or vice-versa by a man of one religion with a woman of another religion, either by converting himself/herself before or after marriage or by converting the woman before or after marriage, shall be declared void by the court.
It also says that if any person desires to convert his/her religion, such person shall give a declaration in the prescribed form at least 60 days in advance to the district magistrate that he wishes to convert his religion on his own, with free consent and without any force, coercion, undue influence or allurement.
The person seeking to convert someone to another religion will have to give one month’s advance notice in the prescribed format to the district magistrate. The DM, in turn, will conduct an inquiry by the police regarding the real intention, purpose and cause of the proposed religious conversion before giving his consent.
The bill provides that the burden of proof, as to whether a religious conversion was not affected through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means of by marriage, lies on the person who has caused the conversion. If any institution or organisation violates the provisions of the bill, the person in-charge of the affairs of the organisation/ institution will be punished. The registration of the organisation/ institution will be cancelled by the competent authority in such a case.