The Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018
The Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018
The Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018, regulates religious conversions within the state to prevent conversions achieved through force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or marriage for the sole purpose of conversion. The Act mandates a formal declaration process for individuals wishing to convert and requires religious priests to provide advance notice to the District Magistrate. It imposes strict penalties for violations, including imprisonment, and places the burden of proof on the person converted or the facilitator. For ordinary citizens, this means any religious conversion must follow strict procedural guidelines to be legally recognized and to avoid criminal liability.
- 1. Short title, extent and commencement
- 2. Definitions
- 3. Prohibition of conversion from one religion to another religion by misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage
- 4. Provided that, if any person comes back to his ancestral religion, shall not be deemed conversion under this Act.
- 5. Punishment for contravention of provisions of Section 3
- 6. Marriages done for sole purpose of conversion to be declared null and void
- 7. Court to which petition shall be presented
- 8. Declaration before conversion of religion and pre-report about purification Sanskar
- 9. Prosecution to be made with the prior sanction
- 10. Punishment for violation of provisions of Act by an institution or organization
- 11. Prohibition on accepting donation or contribution
- 12. Parties to offence
- 13. Burden of Proof
- 14. Offences to be non bailable
- 15. Power to remove difficulties
- 16. Power to make Rules
PDF: pending for this language.