No convictions yet in 17 cases registered under Karnataka’s 2022 anti-conversion law, first case ends in acquittal

The Congress, which came to power in the middle of 2023, made an election promise to repeal the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom Act, 2022, but has not acted on the promise despite a draft for the repeal being circulated at the start of its tenure in July 2023.

The issue of the repeal of anti-conversion laws in the country featured at the 37th General Body Meeting of the Catholic Bishops Council of India a few months ago, and the Christian community in Bengaluru had proposed a protest ahead of the start of the budget session of the Karnataka legislature on March 4, but the protest was deferred, according to sources.

Last year, on the occasion of St Mary’s feast in Bengaluru, the Archbishop of Bengaluru, Peter Machado, had appealed to the Karnataka government to repeal the anti-conversion law, “which continues to be a matter of concern for the community.”

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, who participated in the event, had assured the archbishop that the government would repeal the controversial law in the course of time.

According to the data presented in the Karnataka Legislative Council by the home minister regarding the cases under the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom Act, 2022, none of the 17 cases registered so far has resulted in convictions.

The majority of the cases have been registered in Bengaluru (total of 7) – with four cases in 2023, one in 2024 and two in ߩ followed by Chitradurga (two cases, both from 2023), Gadag (two cases – one each in 2023 and 2025), and one case each in Mysore (2023), Haveri (2023), Kodagu (2023), Belagavi (2024), Kalaburagi (2024), and Shivamogga (2025).

“Out of the 17 cases registered, 3 cases are under investigation and 7 cases are under court hearing, in three cases ‘B’ (closure) is the final report and no conviction has been made in any of the remaining cases,” the Karnataka home minister said in his reply.

Incidentally, the first case that was registered under the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom Act, 2022, was in Bengaluru on October 13, 2022. In the case, Syed Muheen, 22, a resident of north Bengaluru who allegedly eloped with his neighbor Khushboo Yadav, 18, was accused of forcibly converting the girl to Islam to facilitate their marriage.

The case resulted in the acquittal of Syed Muheen on March 4, 2026, after five key witnesses in the case – including the girl’s mother, who filed the police complaint under the anti-conversion law – turned hostile during the trial and claimed that there was no forced conversion involved.

A judicial magistrate observed in the acquittal order that the key witnesses had worked out a compromise with the accused to settle the case.

Another case that was registered last year in north Karnataka under the anti-conversion law, wherein people who were distributing pamphlets at a religious site were accused of forcible conversion, was quashed by the Karnataka High Court’s Dharwad bench on July 17, 2025.

The HC ruled that “the complaint was lodged by a third party, who does not fall within the category of persons enumerated under Section 4 of the Act. Therefore, registration of FIR by 2nd respondent, who lacks locus-standi, is legally invalid.”

The HC also pointed out “essential elements of an offence under Section 3 of the Act” were not made out in the complaint since “there is no allegation that the petitioners converted or attempted to convert any person to another religion.”

Concerns over ‘love jihad’

The Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022, is largely modeled on laws banning religious conversions that are in existence in UP, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. Like the other laws, the Karnataka law addresses right-wing concerns over ‘love jihad’ by seeking to regulate inter-religious marriages.

As per the law, marriages – where religious conversions have taken place for the convenience of marriage – will have legal recognition only if the conversion was brought to the notice of a district magistrate 30 days in advance of conversion and 30 days post conversion.

A jail term of three to five years, and a fine of Rs 25,000, has been proposed for violators converting people from general categories, and a jail term of three to 10 years, and a fine of Rs 50,000 for people converting minors, women, and persons from the SC and ST communities.

Previously, in cases of elopement involving young, inter-religious couples, the police would register kidnapping cases against the boys involved under Section 363 of the Indian Penal Code – if the parents of the girls approached the police and insisted on filing a case.

The cases were, however, dropped if the girl was an adult and stated in court that she had gone away of her own volition. The maximum punishment in a kidnapping case is seven years’ imprisonment and a fine.

In the run-up to the introduction of the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom Act, 2022, right-wing groups carried out as many as 39 attacks on churches and prayer halls of Christians with claims of forcible conversions – according to data collated by the United Christian Forum and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties.

Prior to the introduction of the anti-conversion law, police cases were filed against the Christian groups on charges under the Indian Penal Code sections for promoting enmity between religious groups and outraging religious feelings.

The Congress has opposed the anti-conversion law, claiming it is unconstitutional and against the right to freedom of religion that is enshrined in the Constitution of India.

When the bill was introduced in the legislature in 2022, the current Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, who was the leader of the opposition, argued that there was no need for an anti-conversion law since Section 295 (a) of the then-prevailing Indian Penal Code dealt with outraging religious sentiments.