Mumbai, March 13 The Devendra Fadnavis government introduced the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill 2026 in the state assembly on Friday. The bill has strict provisions to prohibit religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, inducement, or marriage.
According to the bill, those involved in unlawful conversions under the pretext of marriage will be punished with imprisonment of seven years and will also be liable to a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
Violations against minors, persons of unsound mind, women, or individuals belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe will be punished with imprisonment of seven years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
Mass conversions will have a seven-year jail term and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. According to the bill, repeat offenders can face a 10-year jail sentence and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
The bill makes it mandatory for the officer in charge of the police station to register a complaint made by any person.
The bill seeks to protect the constitutional right to freedom of religion while banning conversions carried out through allurement, force, misrepresentation, undue influence, or fraudulent means, according to the draft legislation.
Under the proposed law, no individual or institution will be allowed to convert or attempt to convert a person from one religion to another by offering gifts, money, employment, free education, a promise of marriage, a better lifestyle, or divine healing, which are classified as "allurement".
The bill also prohibits conversions carried out through marriage or a promise of marriage if such acts involve inducement, coercion, or deceit, according to the draft legislation.
In the bill's statement of objects and reasons, the government said that incidents of forceful and organised religious conversions have been reported in various parts of the country, and vulnerable sections are often targeted through inducements.
While the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the right is subject to public order, morality, and health, and does not include the right to forcibly convert another person, as per the bill.
If enacted, Maharashtra will join states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttarakhand that have enacted similar laws to regulate religious conversions.
"The objective is to protect the right to freedom of religion. It also aims to prohibit unlawful religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, inducement, or marriage," said Minister of State for Home Pankaj Bhoyar, who introduced the bill in the assembly.
The bill defines coercion as the act of compelling a person or group to convert against their will, while mass conversion is the conversion of two or more persons simultaneously.
Unlawful conversion is one done through force, fraud, misrepresentation, coercion, undue influence, or inducement.
The bill lays down that no person or institution can convert or attempt to convert another person through allurement, coercion, deceit, misrepresentation, force, or threat, fraudulent means, and undue influence.