Governor assents Ordinance, Karnataka notifies law banning religious conversion by force

Karnataka on Tuesday notified the law banning forceful religious conversions after Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot assented the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Ordinance despite protests from Christian leaders.

The State Assembly had passed the Bill nearly five months ago but the government did not place it before the Legislative Council as the ruling BJP did not have a majority there.

The Cabinet, chaired by chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, on May 12 decided to go ahead with its plans to ban forceful religious conversion through the Ordinance route.


The BJP regime had announced that it will ban forceful religious conversions after sections of BJP and JD(S) MLAs complained that religious conversions had become rampant in their constituencies and sought the government’s intervention.

On Monday, sections of Christian religious leaders met the Governor in Bengaluru and urged him not to assent the ordinance draft.

Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, responding to their concerns, said the law did not target any religion, but will not allow conversions with force or inducements. The purpose of the law is to ensure religious peace, he told media-persons.

Nothing in the law, he insisted, would seek to curtail the religious rights or freedom, granted by the Constitution to people.

The law prohibits religious conversion by force, deceit, coercion and inducement as well as on assurances of marriage. It, however, permits a person to re-convert to his or her original religion.

Persons indulging in forceful conversion will face a prison term of between three and five years and pay a fine of up to Rs 25,000. If the person so converted illegally is a minor, woman or SC/STs, then such acts would invite a jail term of between three and 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000.

And the persons conducting conversions will have to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the affected person. Courts, the Bill passed by the Assembly says, will declare marriages that occur for purposes of conversion as invalid.