The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday tabled a bill in the Assembly to make the state Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, more stringent, The Indian Express reported.
Stating that the existing provisions under the anti-conversion law were “not sufficient”, the government has proposed increasing the maximum punishment from 10 years to life imprisonment, allowing any person to file a complaint and making bail more difficult.
The Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act was passed by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 2021. It outlawed religious conversion through marriage, deceit, coercion or enticement.
The Act was ostensibly meant to tackle “love jihad” – a conspiracy theory espoused by Hindutva groups, alleging that Hindu women are forcibly converted by Muslims through marriage.
On Monday, the proposed bill’s statement of reasons said it was felt that the current Act had to be made “as stringent as possible” in view of “the sensitivity and seriousness of the crime of illegal religious conversion, the dignity and social status of women, and the organised and planned activities of foreign and anti-national elements and organisations in illegal religious conversion and demographic change”.
The document said that the existing penal provisions under the Act were “not sufficient to prevent and control religious conversion and mass conversion in respect of minor, disabled, mentally challenged person, woman or person belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe”.
The government has proposed widening the ambit of who could file a complaint in case of an alleged unlawful conversion. While the current Act allowed for the police to take action on the complaint of the family member of a victim, the new provision allowed for “any person” to file one.
The new bill noted that a person “with intent to cause religious conversion, puts any person in fear of his life or property, assaults or uses force, promises or instigates marriage, conspires or induces any minor, woman or person to traffic or otherwise sells them or abets, attempts or conspires in this behalf” could be imprisoned for up to 20 years, which could also be extended to life imprisonment, The Indian Express reported.
Another addition in the bill includes rigorous imprisonment between seven and 14 years, and a fine of Rs 10 lakh for those found receiving money from a foreign or illegal institution in connection with unlawful religious conversion.
The bill said that a person found to be contravening its provisions regarding “minors, disabled or mentally challenged person, woman or person belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe” would face imprisonment for up to 14 years.
An offender would also be liable to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh, it added, according to The Indian Express. The current Act allotted imprisonment up to 10 years with a minimum fine of Rs 25,000 for the same offence.
On illegal mass religious conversions, offenders would be made to pay a minimum fine of Rs 1 lakh and undergo imprisonment between seven and 14 years, according to the new bill. The current Act allowed for three to 10 years of imprisonment with a minimum fine of Rs 50,000.
On bail, Section 7 of the existing Act noted: “Notwithstanding anything contained herein, all offences under this Act shall be cognisable and non-bailable and shall be triable by the Court of Session.”
According to The Indian Express, an additional sub-clause added to this said: “A person accused of any offence punishable under the Act, if in custody, shall not be released on bail unless the public prosecutor is given an opportunity of opposing the application for bail for such release, or where the public prosecutor opposes the application for bail, the session court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that no offence can be committed by him while on bail.”
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