The Chhattisgarh assembly on Thursday passed a bill aimed at preventing religious conversions carried out through force, inducement, fraud or misrepresentation, with stringent provisions including life imprisonment in cases of “mass conversion”.
The Chhattisgarh Dharm Swatantraya Vidheyak 2026 (Freedom of Religion Bill 2026), tabled in the House by Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, was passed following five hours of discussion amid a boycott by Congress legislators after their demand to refer the bill to a Select Committee for consultation before its introduction was rejected by the chair.
The Bill seeks to replace Chhattisgarh Dharm Swatantraya Adhiniyam (Freedom of Religion Act) 1968 adopted from Madhya Pradesh when the state was carved out in 2000.
All offences will be cognisable and non-bailable. The Bill, however, states that reconversion to one’s ancestral religion will not be treated as conversion under the law.
It also prohibits any person from promoting or conspiring to convert another person through illegal means, whether physically or digitally, and bars actions that put a person’s life or property at risk for the purpose of conversion or involve trafficking of minors or women for such purposes.