MP Has Passed A New Anti-Conversion Bill, But It's Not The First State To Do So

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly passed by voice vote a bill that checks religious conversions through marriage or by any other fraudulent means, as per a PTI report.

There are provisions of 10 years imprisonment in some cases and a hefty fine for those violating it.

On March 1, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra presented the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2021 in the House.

After a discussion on the bill, it was passed by voice vote in the Assembly on Monday.

Governor Anandiben Patel on January 9 gave assent to the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020, which penalised religious conversions through fraudulent means, including those for the sake of marriage.

AFP

The ordinance penalised religious conversions by misrepresentation, allurement, use of threat of force, undue influence, coercion, marriage or by any other fraudulent means.

Last month, Home Minister Mishra had said as many as 23 cases were registered under the ordinance within a month of it coming into force.

He had said the highest number of seven cases were reported in the Bhopal division, followed by five in Indore, four each in Jabalpur and Rewa, and three in the Gwalior division.

But this is not the first state to have done so. UP and Himachal Pradesh have also done it.

AFP

Under all three laws of the three states, the declaration of such a marriage stands ¡°null and void¡± and the conversions are penalised if prior approval of the state is not sought.

The laws differ in the quantum of punishment prescribed, prior notice that the states seek, who leads the investigation, maintenance rights, and in attributing the burden of proof that a conversion is lawful. Also, the MP law seeks to protect the rights of women of such marriages.