Uttarakhand Assembly passes Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to make anti-conversion law more stringent

The Uttarakhand State Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with a view to making the existing anti-conversion law more stringent..The objective of the 2022 Bill is to make illegal religious conversion a cognizable and a non-bailable offence, punishable with a jail term ranging from 3-10 years.The earlier jail term prescribed for illegal conversion was 1-7 years.The Bill was tabled on the first day of the Winter Session by Minister Satpal Maharaj after the State government had moved a Bill in the Assembly to amend the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018.The introductory section of the Bill states that the amendment is necessitated to "remove certain difficulties in the Act.".New clauses have been inserted under the definition Section to include:(jj) "mass conversion", which means where two or more persons are converted; the same is punishable under section 3, with 3-10 years imprisonment with ₹50,000 fine;(jjj) "unlawful religious conversion" means such conversion which is not in accordance with the law of the country; .The Bill states that a person has to mandatorily inform a District Magistrate (DM) about their conversion, one month before and 60 days after converting under Section 9. On failing to do so, the punishment is imprisonment for not less than six months, which may extend to a term of three years.Under the 2018 Act, a person had to inform the DM only prior to the conversion..The Bill also introduces victim compensation up to ₹5 lakh, which shall be paid by the offender over and above the ₹50,000 fine imposed on the accused under the Bill, under Section 3(2).The 2018 Act did not have a scheme for victim compensation..With the new amendment, no previous sanction of the District Magistrate is required to institute prosecution against a person found contravening the provisions of the Act..The Bill has further modified penalties in cases where a religious priest who performs purification Sanskar (conversion ceremony) to convert a person from one religion to another fails to give one month's advance notice of such conversion to the District Magistrate. Such priest shall be sentenced to a minimum of one year in prison, which may extend to five years, under Section 8(2). The 2018 Act prescribed imprisonment for six months, which could be extended up to two years..[Read Amendment Bill].[Read 2018 Act]