Rajasthan Assembly passes ‘anti-conversion’ Bill with steep penalties

The Rajasthan Assembly on Tuesday passed a Bill to prevent religious conversions with stringent provisions against force, fraud, allurement or coercion, punishable with steep penalties, including life imprisonment. Those returning to their “ancestral religion” have been exempted from the law.

The Opposition Congress MLAs boycotted the debate on the Bill and staged a walkout, alleging that the new legislation would break communal harmony and create tension in society. A similar Bill, earlier tabled in the Assembly in February this year, was withdrawn and replaced with the new Bill.

The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025, contains provisions for life imprisonment, fines up to ₹1 crore, and confiscation and demolition of properties where mass conversions take place. The fines imposed on the offenders will be paid to the victims, in addition to compensation awarded by the court.

Previous attempts

In 2006, the then Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, attempted to enact an anti-conversion law in Rajasthan, but the then President, Pratibha Patil, returned the Bill following opposition from the Congress, human rights groups, and minority organisations. An amended version of the Bill was also stuck with the Centre in 2008.

The Rajasthan High Court issued guidelines in 2017 to prevent “forcible conversions”, mandating that conversion is only possible for adults and requires prior intimation to the District Magistrate and public display of the intent. 

Minister of State (MoS) for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham said in the Assembly that the Bill’s passage would pave the way for maintaining “peace and harmony” in the society. “Our Sanatana dharma has always been liberal, which is reflected by Article 25 of the Constitution… but it does not support religious conversion through fraud, fear and deception,” he said.

The Bill, under which the offences will be cognisable, non-bailable and triable by the sessions court, provides that marriages undertaken solely for conversion will be declared void by the court, and conversions carried out before or after such marriages will be considered unlawful.

The Bill’s passage has made Rajasthan the latest Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled State to bring the legislation aimed at curbing the alleged forcible religious conversions. Similar laws exist in States such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh.