- 04 September, 2025
Jaipur, September 4, 2025 — The Bhajan Lal Sharma government in Rajasthan on Sunday unveiled tougher provisions under its proposed anti-conversion legislation, including life imprisonment and fines of up to ₹50 lakh for repeat offenders. The Bill will be tabled in the Monsoon Session of the Assembly beginning Monday.
Law and Legal Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel, flanked by Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa and Cabinet Minister Sumit Godara, announced that the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025 aims to curb conversions by inducement or fraud.
The government had first tabled the Bill in February but it never came up for debate. Patel said the earlier draft will now be withdrawn and a fresh version with stricter penalties introduced. Rajasthan currently has no law against illegal conversions. The Cabinet approved the new draft on Sunday.
Significantly, the Bill excludes “returning to one’s original ancestral religion” from its definition of conversion. “If someone returns to their mool (original) religion, or ghar wapsi, these provisions will not apply,” Patel said.
Harsher Punishments Outlined
Under the new Bill, unlawful conversion carries a jail term of seven to 14 years and a minimum fine of ₹5 lakh, compared to the previous one to five years and a minimum fine of ₹15,000.
Conversions involving minors, women, differently abled persons, or members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes would attract 10–20 years in prison and a fine of at least ₹10 lakh — a sharp increase from the earlier two to 10 years and ₹25,000 minimum fine, with no special provision for the differently abled.
For mass conversions, punishment would range from 20 years to life imprisonment, alongside a minimum fine of ₹25 lakh. The old draft had prescribed three to 10 years with a ₹50,000 minimum fine.
The Bill also introduces penalties for foreign funding. Accepting money from foreign or unlawful institutions for conversion would invite 10–20 years’ imprisonment and a minimum fine of ₹20 lakh.
Special cases such as inducement by fear, force, promises of marriage, marriage itself, or trafficking of women would draw between 20 years and life imprisonment, plus fines of at least ₹30 lakh. The clause declaring marriages conducted for unlawful conversion purposes as void will remain.
Repeat offenders face the harshest provisions: life imprisonment, a fine of no less than ₹50 lakh, cancellation of organisational registration, withdrawal of state grants, and possible confiscation or demolition of properties used for illegal conversions.
As with the old Bill, the burden of proof rests on the accused, and all offences are cognisable and non-bailable.
Political Reactions
Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully criticised the legislation as a diversion from pressing issues such as inflation, unemployment, corruption, and failing infrastructure. “Rajasthan has always been a land of communal harmony,” he said, accusing the BJP government of seeking political mileage. He noted that in response to an Assembly question, the government admitted that no case of “love jihad” had been registered in the state.
Other Cabinet Decisions
Sunday’s Cabinet also cleared measures to provide 150 units of free electricity under the Chief Minister’s Free Electricity Scheme through solar power, amended the Sewerage and Waste Water Policy (2016), and approved installation of up to two lakh street lights in urban areas.
Source: The Indian Express
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