After independence, Odisha was the first to pass an anti-conversion law: the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967.
In 1973, the Orissa High Court had declared the same law “ultra vires a la Constitution” on charges that the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the term “incentive” in the law was vague.
However, this decision was overturned by the Supreme Court of India in Rev. Stainislaus against the State of Madhya Pradesh.
The state of Madhya Pradesh was the second state to enact an anti-conversion law, the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act of 1968.
Unlike the Orissa High Court, in 1977 the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act of 1968, stating that the relevant sections “establish equal religious freedom for all citizens by prohibiting conversion through objectionable activities such as forcible conversion, fraud, and seduction. “
Madhya Pradesh, time and time again, has tried to amend this law to make stricter provisions for religious conversions. In 2006, an amendment to request a one-month notice before conversion, stricter punishment, police interference to ensure “voluntary conversion”, and details of the purification ceremony where the conversion takes place were sent to the president for the consent of then-Governor Balram Jakhar. But it was rejected by APJ Abdul Kalam, who considered that “it violated the freedom of religion guaranteed in the Constitution because it insists on prior permission.”
Months before the 2013 Assembly elections in the state, the issue was raised again and an amendment passed in the House that improves jail terms, forcing the priest to request prior permission for the proposed conversion, and requires to the person who has been converted to inform the authorities within a stipulated period of time.
However, according to a news report on The Wire, the amended bill is still pending approval in the president’s office.
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