Uttarakhand Police to Examine All Inter-faith Marriages Since 2018, Here’s Why

In a first, all interfaith marriages in Uttarakhand, since 2018, will be examined to check any possible violation of the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act (Amendment) 2022, the police said.

The police will examine all the interfaith marriages and take appropriate legal action in case of violation, ADG (Law & Order) V Murugesan told The Times of India. 

For this, the police has written to all SSPs and SPs of all the 13 districts in the state.

Action will be taken by concerned district police units in case of violation, and irrespective of the faiths of those involved, TOI said.

What is the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act?

The Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was approved by the Uttarakhand Assembly in November this year in order to strengthen the 2018 “Anti Conversion Law”.

The amendment increased the maximum sentence for “forcible conversion” from five years to ten years in jail and also made conversion a cognizable and non-bailable “crime.”

The offender will also be imposed with a fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000.

“No person shall convert, either directly or otherwise, any other person from one religion to another by use or practice of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means. No person shall abet, convince or conspire such conversion,” the draft of the bill said.

Stating the objects and reasons for the bill, State Minister for religious affairs Satpal Maharaj said “…under articles 25,26, 27 and 28 of the Constitution of India, under Right to Freedom of Religion, to equally strengthen the importance of every religion, the amendment in Uttarakhand freedom of religion Act, 2018 is necessary to remove certain difficulties in the Act.