Omar Rashid 
New Delhi: The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has proposed to make the existing controversial law against unlawful conversion of religion even more stringent, increasing the maximum punishment from 10 years to life imprisonment, allowing any person to file a complaint, making the process of bail more complicated and adding the angle of foreign funding into it.
The government proposed these amendments in Uttar Pradesh Prohibition Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024, that was tabled in the Assembly on Monday during the ongoing Monsoon Session. The Bill also widened the definition of the serious offences under unlawful conversion, adding promise or conspiracy of marriage, trafficking or selling of minor and women and instilling fear of life or property for the purpose of conversion among provisions violation of which would invite a maximum jail term of life and a minimum punishment of 20 years behind bars.
The Bill was passed by the State Assembly on Tuesday through a voice vote, but not before the Opposition Samajwadi Party orally proposed an amendment to check misuse of the law and the Congress suggested that it be sent to a Steering Committee for further deliberations.
The Wire had recently reported how despite the law prohibiting unaffected third-parties from lodging an FIR under it, such cases were being recorded throughout the state at a rampant rate, with the courts allowing it due to inconsistent interpretations of the said provisions, namely Section 4 of the law.
Also read: Uttar Pradesh: In Anti-Conversion FIRs, Who Are the ‘Others’ Who Mostly File the Complaints?
The state government’s particular amendment, making it possible for any person to lodge a complaint under the law, gives a legal green flag to any person, including vigilante groups or associates of the alleged victim to lodge complaints.
Yogi Adityanath in a note attached to the draft of the bill, said that it was necessary to bring in the amendments considering the alleged “organized and well-planned” involvement of “foreign and anti-national elements and organizations” in demographic change due to unlawful conversion.
The amendment in Section 4 was also necessary due to the “problems” that have come up regarding it in various cases, he said.
Amendments to the original law
The original law, Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, made religious conversion a cognisable and non-bailable offence, inviting penalties of up to 10 years in prison if found to be effected for marriage or through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or other allegedly fraudulent means.
The Act of 2021 clearly defined who was qualified to lodge an FIR against unlawful conversion. Section 4 of the Act states that “any aggrieved person, his or her parents, brother, sister or any other person related to him or her by blood, marriage or adoption” would be considered competent to lodge an FIR under the law. Now, with the amendments, “any person” can provide information regarding the violation of the provisions of the law in accordance with chapter 13 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. The chapter deals with the information to the police and their powers to investigate.
The Bill, 2024 amended Sections 4, 5 and 7 of the 2021 Act and added two sub-clauses to Section 7, mandating that the bail plea of the accused would not be considered without giving any opportunity to the public prosecutor to oppose the application. All offences under unlawful conversion are cognisable, and non-bailable and would not be heard by any court below the level of a sessions court.
The government has increased the jail term and fines for all degrees of offences under the law.
Earlier, if a person was found guilty of unlawful conversion, he or she would be punished with a minimum jail term of one year and a maximum imprisonment of five years. The person would also be liable to pay a fine of Rs 15,000.
The amended bill has increased the minimum punishment for ordinary offences to five years and the maximum to 10 years. The fine has also been increased to Rs 50,000.
The jail term for committing offences against minors, women or Dalits and tribals has also been increased from a maximum of 10 years (minimum jail of two years) to 14 years. The new minimum jail term is five years. The fine has also been increased from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
The Bill, 2024 has also made the section around mass conversions more stringent. Earlier, a person convicted of mass conversion was sentenced to a minimum jail term of three years and a maximum punishment of 10 years. Now, the punishment has been increased to seven years (minimum) and 14 years (maximum), and the fine doubled to Rs 1 lakh.
A newly added Sub-Section to Section 5 of the law mandates a minimum jail term of seven years, extendable to 14 years in prison, for anyone who secures “foreign” funds or funds from “illegal institutions for the purpose of unlawful conversion. The person would be liable to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
Also, a person who with the intent of conversion assaults someone, uses force against them or puts them in fear of their life or property or induces them through marriage or promise of marriage or conspires for it, or traffics or sells a minor, a woman or any other person through allurements or abets, conspires or makes attempts in this regard, would be punished with a jail term of not less than 20 years and a maximum term of life imprisonment. The amended bill also mandates that courts grant appropriate compensation payable to the victim by the accused person. This may extend to a maximum sum of Rs 5 lakh and shall be paid in addition to the fine.
Objections ignored
The Bill came up for discussion in the state assembly on Tuesday. Aradhana Misra, Congress’ leader in the Assembly, proposed that the amended bill be sent to a steering committee for further discussion, arguing that it would not be right to pass the Bill in such a hurried manner. Her proposal was rejected through a voice vote.
The Uttar Pradesh assembly at the start of this Monsoon Session. Photo: Twitter/@SureshKKhanna
Misra said that while “most cases” of religious conversion were “wrong” (unlawful), not all of them were illegal. Some were done consensually as per the constitutional right granted to every citizen, she said.
Misra raised concerns over the stringent nature of the Bill, especially the portion making bail difficult and allowing anyone to lodge an FIR. “Are we not making the judiciary compelled? Is this not the violation of the liberty granted to a common citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution,” she asked.
Elaborating on the stringent nature of the Bill and the increased jail terms, Misra said, “A person’s life can be finished in the course of just one FIR.”
Samajwadi Party MLA and Leader of the Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey proposed that to prevent the lodging of false cases, an amendment be made to the Bill mandating a minimum punishment of one year in jail for any officer who imposes the challan in the case if the accused person is later found innocent by a court. “A lot of false cases will be lodged once the Bill is passed,” Pandey said.
Misra further said that conversions were a “social problem” and a “psychological problem” linked to illiteracy and unemployment, and that they could not be solved by making laws more stringent.
A law against unlawful conversion had already existed since 2020, she pointed out.
Also read: Legal Howlers in UP’s ‘Anti-Conversion’ Law Expose its Real Intent
Suresh Khanna, state parliamentary affairs minister, who introduced the bill, said all checks and balances regarding misuse of the law and lodging of false cases and statements had been provided in the BNSS. The government had no objection to “conversion by free will,” said Khanna.
As reported recently by The Wire, despite a clarification by the Allahabad high court on more than one occasion in individual petitions over the past year, police continue to register FIRs against unlawful conversion on the complaints of Hindutva right-wing activists and other third-party elements, including elected local representatives, ruling party office-bearers and police personnel themselves
Perturbed by this trend, in March, an NGO Legal Aid and Social Development Educational Society (LASDES) filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the high court praying that the court issue directions to the state Director General of Police (DGP) commanding him to ensure strict compliance of Section 4 so that FIRs are registered only at the behest of the aggrieved person and to put a stay on such actions till the petition was disposed off.
This PIL states that the failure of the state machinery to adhere to Section 4 of the law was “resulting in serious exploitation” of its provisions by “anti-social elements to fuel their ulterior motives.” The petitioners said that since there had been “a spate of illegal FIRs” filed by third-party complainants, there was a need for certain safeguards, i.e., measure or guidelines for registration of FIRs to “keep a check on the spewed hate of vigilante groups arising out of intolerance.”
The PIL also attached details of 33 such FIRs from September 2021 to August 2023, a period of two years to support its assertion. In all cases, the allegations were that the victims were being unlawfully converted to Christianity.