Goa Cabinet Clears Strict Anti‑Conversion Bill

Overview

• The state Cabinet approved the Goa Prohibition of Unlawful Conversions of Religion Bill and plans to table it in the Assembly during the upcoming monsoon session.
• The draft makes conversions obtained by force, coercion, allurement, fraud or marriage a crime and allows courts to declare marriages void if done only for conversion.
• Penalties in the bill include life imprisonment, minimum jail terms for priests and clerics, fines starting at Rs 50,000, and victim compensation up to Rs 5 lakh.
• Opposition parties, civil‑society experts and at least one government‑supporting MLA have said Goa lacks documented forced‑conversion cases and asked for the bill to be sent to a Select Committee or withdrawn.
• The measure follows a pattern of similar state laws elsewhere in India and raises constitutional and enforcement questions that could deepen political polarisation as the Assembly considers the draft.