On Tuesday (February 4), a Bill was tabled in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly to stop “unlawful” religious conversions. Though it is yet to be debated, the Bill is not expected to see major changes, if at all, and will likely be passed during the ongoing budget session.
It follows similar legislation from other states, such as Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In an interview with The Indian Express last year, Rajasthan Law Minister Jogaram Patel said the Bill was being introduced to prevent forcible conversions, especially those of vulnerable communities like the tribals, and to check what the BJP calls “love jihad”, among other things. The Bill states that marriages for the “sole purpose of unlawful conversion or vice-versa” will be declared void. Here is what to know about its key provisions.
What does the Bill say?
Under the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025, unlawful conversion mainly refers to religious conversion through coercion, force, allurement or fraud, with allurement including cash, material benefits, employment, free education, etc.
The burden of proof – that a religious conversion was not effected through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or marriage – lies on the person who has “caused” the conversion, the Bill states. This is a reversal of the principle of assumption of innocence, which normally applies to the accused person in a criminal case.
The Bill mainly empowers blood relatives to lodge an FIR in a suspected case. It says, “Any aggrieved person, his/her parents, brother, sister, or any other person who is related to him/her by blood, marriage or adoption may lodge a FIR”.
It further states that those involved in unlawful conversion can be punished with one to five years in jail with a minimum fine of Rs 15,000. In case of an unlawful conversion targeting a minor, a woman or a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST), the punishment can be between two to 10 years with a fine of Rs 25,000.
For an unlawful mass conversion, the imprisonment would be three to 10 years with a minimum fine of Rs 50,000. Repeat offenders would face a punishment not exceeding double what is provided under the law for each subsequent offence.
All offences under the Bill are cognizable (where the police can make an arrest without a warrant) and non-bailable (where bail is not a matter of right and a magistrate determines if the accused is fit to be released on bail).
What about those wanting to convert voluntarily?
Those converting voluntarily would undergo a seemingly exhaustive process over a few months. A prescribed declaration form should be filled and submitted to the District Magistrate (DM) or the relevant authority 60 days in advance, with violations inviting up to three years’ punishment and a minimum fine of Rs 10,000.
Then, the “convertor” or the person performing the ceremony would give a month’s advance notice to the DM through a prescribed form, and violating this would invite up to five years’ imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 25,000.
Subsequently, an officer not below the rank of Additional DM will “get an enquiry conducted through police with regard to real intention, purpose and cause of the proposed religious conversion.”
The converted person will then have to send a declaration in a prescribed form within 60 days of conversion to the DM. A copy of the declaration has to be displayed on the notice board of the DM’s office till the date of confirmation. Said declaration will include the convert’s date of birth, permanent/present address, father’s/husband’s name, the religion before and after conversion, the date and place of conversion etc. The convert then has to appear before the DM within 21 days from the date of filing the declaration, to establish his/her identity and confirm the contents of the declaration.
What was the need to bring the Bill?
The Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma-led government has cited the conversion of “gullible persons” as a key reason behind the Bill.
Its ‘Statement of Objects and Reasons’ says, “The Constitution confers on each individual the fundamental right to profess, practise and propagate his religion. However, the individual right to freedom of conscience and religion cannot be extended to construe a collective right to proselytize; the right to religious freedom belongs equally to the person converting and the individual sought to be converted.”
It adds that many examples involving fraud or misrepresentation “have come to light” recently. “The law related to right to religious freedom already exists in various States of the country but there was no statute on the said subject in Rajasthan,” it says.
Other than that, conversions of tribals and “love jihad” claims have been raised by the BJP’s core constituency in the recent past.
Were attempts made to pass such a Bill earlier?
The state government’s first attempt to bring in an anti-conversion law was in 2006, during BJP leader Vasundhara Raje’s first tenure as the Chief Minister. The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya Vidheyak or the Rajasthan Freedom of Religion Bill, 2006, aimed to check conversions through “force, allurement or by fraudulent means”.
“It has been observed by the state government that some religious and other institutions, bodies and individuals are found to be involved in unlawful conversion from one religion to another by allurement or by fraudulent means or forcibly which at times has caused annoyance in the community belonging to other religions. The inter-religion fabric is weakened by such illegal activities and causes law and order problems,” the government said then.
The Bill was returned by then President Pratibha Patil following opposition from the Congress, human rights organisations and minority groups, who claimed that the law was being brought in to harass religious minorities while appeasing Hindu groups. In 2008, an amended version of the Bill with new provisions, including mandating prior approval of the concerned District Collector, was also stuck with the Centre.
Raje, upon becoming CM for the second time (2013-2018), tried to get the 2008 Bill enacted and pursued it with the Centre, which reportedly returned the legislation in November 2017 by claiming it “deviated from national policy”. In the absence of a law, the Rajasthan High Court issued guidelines in 2017 to prevent “forcible conversions”.
A view of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha. (Express file photo by Rohit Jain Paras) 
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