UP Assembly to Consider Tougher Penalties for Unlawful Religious Conversion

GG News Bureau
Lucknow, 30th July. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly is set to consider and pass a bill on Tuesday that seeks to amend the Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, increasing the maximum punishment to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh for violators.

Under the amended provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2024, if a person threatens, attacks, marries, or promises to marry, conspires for it, or traffics a woman, minor, or anyone with the intention of conversion, the crime will be classified as the most serious. The amended bill provides for 20-year imprisonment or life imprisonment in such cases. Previously, the maximum punishment was 10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna introduced the bill in the House on Monday. The amendment now allows any person to register an FIR in conversion cases. Earlier, the presence of the victim, parents, or siblings was necessary to file a complaint, but now anyone can provide information to the police in writing.

The bill proposes that such cases will only be heard by a sessions court, and bail pleas will not be considered without giving an opportunity to the public prosecutor. Additionally, all crimes under this act have been made non-bailable.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath initiated this amendment to curb ‘love jihad’, a term used by some Hindu groups to describe alleged forcible conversions through marriage. An ordinance was issued in November 2020, and after the bill was passed by both houses of the Uttar Pradesh Legislature, the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, came into force.