Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Saturday approved the Freedom of Religion Bill 2020 in a special meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal.
According to an ANI report, Under this bill, forced religious conversions will attract 1-5 years of imprisonment and a minimum of Rs 25,000 fine. The law also states the forced conversion of a minor, a woman, or a person belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe would draw a minimum jail term of 2-10 years with a minimum penalty of Rs 50,000.
Bhopal: MP Freedom of Religion Bill 2020 approved by cabinet in a special meeting chaired by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
"Under new Bill, forcing religious conversion on someone will attract 1-5 yrs of imprisonment & a minimum Rs 25,000 fine," says Narottam Mishra, State Minister pic.twitter.com/64mDEtWJoL
— ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2020
With this development, Madhya Pradesh has become the third BJP-ruled state to clear the anti-Love Jihad bill after Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
Under the proposed Madhya Pradesh Religious Freedom Act, ‘no person will be able to convert anyone directly or otherwise through marriage or by any other fraudulent means by luring or intimidating anyone’.
If a person is held guilty of being involved in converting another person by misleading, luring, threatening, or through marriage he/she will be prosecuted.
Blood relatives, including parents of victims of such religious conversion, can file a complaint, the official said.
Earlier, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government passed a bill against ‘Love Jihad’ which has provisions that can land offenders in jail for up to five years.
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