With support from opposition parties like Shiv Sena UBT and NCP SP, Maharashtra legislature has passed the Freedom of Religion Bill in both the houses during the ongoing budget session of the Assembly. Once the Governor gives his assent, Maharashtra will become the 13th State in India to have a legislation against forced conversions. Within days after the Bill was tabled in the Assembly last week, it was cleared by Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on March 16, and by the Legislative Council on March 17.
What stood out during the debates for these two days was the absence of the opposition parties during the voice vote in the lower house, and the explicit support to the legislation by almost all major opposition parties barring the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. The apprehensions expressed by BJP’s ally NCP in the upper house also drew attention.
The major concerns which emerged out of the debate in both the houses in Maharashtra were the lack of empirical data leading to the requirement to bring this bill, the concerns about the infringement of the right to religious freedom as promised by the Constitution, concerns about the requirement for a 60-day notice before conversion and questions about the additional powers given to the administrative authorities leading to the possibility of misuse.
