2 months ago
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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis connected Monday (March 16, 2026) said respective women person been lured into relationships, joined and aboriginal abandoned, asserting that the Bill against fraudulent spiritual conversion aims to code these issues and curb specified practices.
The Opposition parties are politicising the contented for vote-bank gains, but erstwhile they work the Bill carefully, they volition person nary objections, Mr. Fadnavis told reporters astatine the Mantralaya.
Maharashtra was not the archetypal State to present specified authorities arsenic respective States had already enacted akin laws to curb unlawful spiritual conversions, helium noted.
If enacted, Maharashtra volition articulation States similar Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand that person enacted akin laws to modulate spiritual conversions.
Tough ineligible provisions
The authorities connected Friday (March 13, 2026) introduced successful the State Assembly, the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill 2026 that has stringent provisions to prohibit spiritual conversions carried retired done coercion, fraud, inducement oregon marriage.
As per the Bill, those progressive successful unlawful conversions connected the pretext of matrimony volition beryllium punished with imprisonment of 7 years and shall besides beryllium liable for good of ₹1 lakh.
Violations successful respect of a minor, idiosyncratic of unsound caput oregon pistillate oregon idiosyncratic belonging to the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe volition beryllium punished with imprisonment of 7 years and good of ₹5 lakh.
“There person been galore cases wherever women were lured, they eloped, and were abandoned aft marriage. In specified a situation, it raises the question of their kid from specified a relationship. It complicates their life. The Bill is trying to find retired solutions to specified problems,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
If the Opposition parties had work the Bill carefully, they would realise that it does not people immoderate assemblage but is aimed astatine preventing conversions carried retired done inducement, coercion oregon pressure, helium said.
“The Opposition is simply trying to politicise the contented for their ballot slope politics. I tin warrant you that aft cautious speechmaking of the Bill, the Opposition volition not entity to it,” the CM said.
60-day notice
Under the projected legislation, immoderate idiosyncratic intending to person from 1 religion to another, arsenic good arsenic immoderate idiosyncratic oregon instauration organising a conversion ceremony, indispensable springiness a announcement astatine slightest 60 days successful beforehand to the competent authority, defined arsenic the territory magistrate oregon an serviceman authorised by the State government.
The competent authorization volition publically show details of the projected conversion astatine its bureau and astatine the colony panchayat oregon section authorization concerned, inviting objections from the nationalist wrong 30 days.
The Bill further mandates that the converted idiosyncratic and the idiosyncratic oregon instauration organising the ceremonial taxable a declaration to the authorization wrong 21 days aft the conversion.
It besides allows parents, siblings oregon relatives related by blood, matrimony oregon adoption of the converted idiosyncratic to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) if they fishy unlawful conversion, and requires the constabulary to registry specified complaints.
