Karnataka Assembly passes anti-conversion Bill amid protests by Opposition: All you need to know

The Karnataka legislative Assembly on December 23 passed The Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, popularly known as the anti-conversion Bill, amid protests by the Opposition parties.

The proposed law that prohibits conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, fraud, allurement or marriage will now go to the Karnataka Legislative Council.

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The Bill has a provision for imprisonment for those who indulge in mass conversion from three to 10 years and a fine of Rs one lakh.

Up to 10-year jail term and Rs one lakh fine for mass conversion

According to the Bill, any converted person, his parents, brother, sister or any other person who is related to him by blood, marriage or adoption or in any form associated or colleague can lodge a complaint.

A jail term of three to five years and a fine of Rs 25,000 has been proposed for those violating the law in the case of people from general categories, and a jail term of three to 10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000 for those converting minors, women or persons from SC/ST communities.

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“No person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any other person from one religion to another by use or practice of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by any of these means or by promise of marriage, nor shall any person abet or conspire such conversion,” reads the Bill, a copy of which was shared by legal news website Live Law.

The Bill, however, clarifies that if any person reconverts to his immediate previous religion the same shall not be deemed to be a conversion under this Act.

Those found guilty of mass conversion “shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term of three years but which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine of rupees one lakh,” the Bill says. Mass conversion means where two or more persons are converted.

The proposed law also has a provision of “appropriate” compensation to be ordered by a court payable by the accused to the victim of conversion which may extend to maximum of rupees five lakh, in addition to the fine.

Opposition by Congress and JD (S)

The leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and Opposition parties traded charges on each other as the anti-conversion Bill was being passed the Karnataka legislative Assembly on December 24. The JD(S) too expressed its opposition to the Bill.

The Congress party called the proposed law "anti-people" and "anti-constitutional" demanding that the Bill be withdrawn.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai-led government however claimed that the legislation was initiated by the Congress under Siddaramaiah as chief minister. Siddaramaiah, who is now the Leader of Opposition, said he had then only asked the draft bill to be placed before the cabinet and no decision was taken in this regard, and hence it cannot be seen or projected as the intention of his government, according to PTI report.

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"The Bill is a branchild of the RSS and the BJP," Siddaramaiah said.

The Opposition has alleged that the bill was intended to victimise the Christian community, a charge that the government has denied.

"This Bill is framed to protect all religions. This is not about the majority or minority community. If anyone wants to convert to another religion, it has to be voluntary and he has to give application to the district collector and get himself converted," JC Madhu Swamy, Karnataka Law minister told NDTV.

Declaration before voluntary conversion

Any person from Karnataka who wants to convert to another religion after the law comes into force will have to notify the local district magistrate two months in advance, according to the law. The person who is carrying out the conversion must provide one-month notice after which the district magistrate has conduct an enquiry through the police on the purpose of conversion.

“If the District Magistrate comes to a conclusion based on the said inquiry of the commission of an offence under this Act, he shall cause the concerned police authorities to initiate criminal action for contravention of the provisions,” the Bill says.

The Bill has a provision of punishment for not informing the authorities which may be a jail term of six months to three years for persons who convert, and a term of one to five years for those carrying out conversions.