Uttarakhand Governor returns Bill to amend anti-conversion law

The Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Assembly’s monsoon session on August 20. Many of its provisions have been lifted from the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2024. For example, the maximum punishment has been raised to 20 years or life term for some offences.

The original 2018 Act stipulated a prison term of up to five years for anyone convicted of “forced or fraudulent” religious conversion through coercion, incitement, or allurement.

The Dhami government had earlier amended the Act in 2022, which then stipulated a prison term of not less than two years extending to seven years with a fine not less than Rs 25,000. If the “forcibly” converted person was a minor, a woman, or a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste or the Scheduled Tribe, it attracted imprisonment for a term between two to 10 years, besides a minimum Rs 25,000 fine.

Under the 2025 amendment, fraudulent conversion will attract between three to 10 years in jail and a minimum fine of Rs 50,000. If the victim is a minor, a woman, an SC/ST individual, or a person with disability, the punishment will be five to 14 years in jail and a fine of at least Rs 1 lakh. The proposed amendment also gives powers to seize the property of the accused.