Rajasthan passes anti-conversion bill with life imprisonment, fines up to Rs 1 crore

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan on Tuesday passed a bill to prevent religious conversions, introducing stringent penalties such as life imprisonment and fines of up to Rs 1 crore for force, fraud, allurement or coercion, The Hindu reported.

The 2025 Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill was passed in the Assembly amid Opposition Congress MLAs boycotting the debate and walking out. The party alleged that the new legislation would break communal harmony.

Speaking in the Assembly, Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham said that the passage of the bill would pave the way for maintaining “peace and harmony” in 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,” The Hindu quoted Bedham as saying.

Sanatana Dharma is a term some use as a synonym for Hinduism.

Article 25 guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of religion.

The bill also contains provisions for confiscating and demolishing properties where “mass conversions” take place.

Under the bill, offences will be cognisable, non-bailable and triable by a sessions court. It also states 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...

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