The legislation provides penalties of up to 10 years in prison if it is determined that the conversion is carried out by marriage or by force.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel issued an ordinance on the illegal conversion days after it was approved by the state cabinet led by Yogi Adityanath, officials said on Saturday.
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The Uttar Pradesh Illegal Conversion of Religion Prohibition Ordinance, 2020, was passed by the State Cabinet earlier this week and enacted on November 27.
The ordinance makes religious conversion a recognizable and non-bail offense, and calls for penalties of up to 10 years in prison if it is determined to be done by marriage or by alleged misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, seduction or other means. fraudulent.
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Violation of the provisions of the law would carry a prison sentence of not less than one year, extendable to five years, with a fine of ₹ 15,000. However, if a minor, a woman or a person belonging to the registered Caste or Tribal communities were converted by the illicit means mentioned, the prison sentence would be a minimum of three years and could be extended to 10 years with a fine of ₹ 25,000. .
The ordinance, approved by the State Cabinet, also establishes strict actions against mass conversions, which would invite a jail term of no less than three years and up to 10 years and a fine of ₹ 50,000.
The court will also award appropriate compensation payable by the defendant to the victim of such conversion, which can be up to a maximum of ₹ 5 lakh, the ordinance said.
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The ordinance says that any marriage made for the sole purpose of “illegal conversion or vice versa” by a man of one religion to a woman of another religion, “either converting before or after marriage, or converting the woman sooner or later, will be declared desert ”.
Whoever wishes to convert their religion must submit a declaration in a prescribed form at least 60 days in advance to the District Magistrate (DM) or Additional District Magistrate (ADM) that they wish to convert on their own and with their free will without any force , coercion, undue influence or attractiveness. Violation of this provision could land a person in jail from three months to three years.
Any religious convertor who performs a ceremony to convert any person from one religion to another must give one month’s notice on a prescribed form to the DM or ADM. Violation of this provision would invite a prison sentence of one to five years.
The ordinance further stated that the burden of proving that a conversion was not effected by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, seduction, fraudulent means, or marriage would fall on the person who caused the conversion or the person who facilitated it.
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