Previously, the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022, which was implemented by the previous BJP-led government, has reportedly been repealed by the current Congress-led government in Karnataka.
The law aimed to prevent conversions from one religion to another through deceptive, coercive, or fraudulent means. It was enacted by the Karnataka legislative assembly in December 2021, despite opposition from the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Janata Dal (Secular). Eventually, it became law in September 2022.
Recently, the INC emerged victorious in the legislative assembly elections and formed the state government in Karnataka.
The Act’s Section 3 criminalized religious conversions achieved by misrepresentation, force, fraud, coercion, allurement, or the promise of marriage. Violators of this section were subject to imprisonment for three years, extendable to five years, along with a fine of 25,000 rupees.
If the conversion involved a minor, a person with impaired mental capacity, a woman, or a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the punishment increased to ten years of imprisonment and the same fine.
Furthermore, the Act required individuals seeking religious conversion to notify the District Magistrate or Additional District Magistrate at least thirty days prior to the conversion.
The onus was on the person responsible for the conversion and any accomplice who aided or abetted it to prove that it was not carried out through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or any fraudulent means.
