Overview
- The bill cleared the House after about five hours of debate as Congress MLAs walked out when their request for a Select Committee review was rejected, citing pending Supreme Court cases and privacy concerns.
- Illegal conversion now covers force, fraud, undue influence and allurement through digital outreach, with ‘allurement’ including money, jobs, services, promises of a better lifestyle or marriage, while reconversion to ancestral faith is excluded.
- Individuals seeking to convert must file a declaration and religious functionaries must give prior notice, after which district authorities publish details online and at public offices with a window for objections.
- Punishments start at seven to ten years with a ₹5 lakh fine for general offences and rise to ten to twenty years with a ₹10 lakh minimum fine in aggravated cases, while ‘mass conversion’ of two or more persons carries ten years to life and at least ₹25 lakh; offences are cognisable and non-bailable.
- Investigations will be led by police of sub-inspector rank or above and tried in special courts targeting six-month timelines, with victim compensation up to ₹10 lakh and curbs on funding linked to violations, and the measure now awaits remaining procedural approvals.