Prohibition Of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020

Prohibition Of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Policies and interventions; E-governance

In news

• The UP Cabinet recently cleared an ordinance to ban religious conversion for marriage. 
• The new law will put the onus on the defendant to prove that conversion was not for marriage.

Key takeaways

• The Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020, recommends 1-5 years imprisonment if an accused fails to prove that the conversion of the woman was not for marriage or by use of force, allurement etc.
• The jail sentence for the offence would be 3-10 years if the woman is from the SC/ST community or is seen as part of mass conversion.
• The notice period to the district magistrate for the religious conversion has been doubled to two months from a month in an earlier draft.

Do you know?

• The ordinance comes days after the Allahabad high court said in a verdict that the right to choose a partner or live with a person of choice was part of a citizen’s fundamental right to life and liberty. 
• The verdict also said earlier court rulings that ‘religious conversion for marriage was unacceptable’ was not good in law.