Overview

• The amendments broaden “inducement” to include gifts, jobs, free education, promises of marriage, and disparaging or glorifying one religion over another.
• Penalties now range from three years for general offences to life imprisonment in cases involving coercion, trafficking or mass conversions, with elevated terms for women, children, SC/ST and disabled individuals.
• All offences under the amended law are cognizable and non-bailable, authorizing police to arrest without warrant and restricting bail to courts’ satisfaction of non-recurrence.
• District magistrates are empowered to seize property suspected of funding conversions and appoint administrators to manage confiscated assets.
• The state government frames the amendments as a measure to protect religious rights and social harmony ahead of its assembly introduction and anticipated legal scrutiny.