Dehradun: The ambitious bill of the Dhami government in Uttarakhand, which provides for stricter penalties against forced religious conversions, has been put on hold for now. Governor Lieutenant General (Retd.) Gurmit Singh has returned the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill 2025 to the state government for reconsideration instead of giving his assent. This has dealt a blow to the government’s efforts to introduce provisions for life imprisonment in cases of religious conversion.
The Dhami government had recently amended the law to make the penalties for forced conversions even more stringent. This amended bill was passed during the assembly session held in Gairsain in August 2025 and sent to the Governor’s office for approval. However, according to sources, some technical and legal flaws were found in the draft of the bill, due to which the Governor has asked the government to reconsider it before giving his assent.
The Legislative Department received the bill back on Tuesday. According to senior officials, the government now has two options. First, if the government wants the law to be implemented soon, it can implement it through an ordinance. The second option is to reintroduce the amended bill in the next assembly session, get it passed, and then send it again for the Governor’s approval.
Penalties Made Stricter in 2022
It is worth noting that the law related to religious conversion in Uttarakhand has been made stricter several times before. In 2018, the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act was implemented in the state. Later, in 2022, the Dhami government amended it to further tighten the penalties. Despite this, the government believed that stricter provisions were necessary to prevent organized and serious cases of religious conversion.
Several important changes were proposed in the new bill of 2025. The punishment for conversion through deception, force, or inducement was increased from three to ten years, which was previously two to seven years. In addition, the right to file a complaint was extended beyond blood relatives to any individual. The bill also included a provision granting the District Magistrate the power to confiscate the properties of the accused, similar to the provisions of the Gangster Act.
What will the Dhami government do now?
The strictest provisions were for cases in which conversion was carried out by deception, assault, conspiracy, trafficking of minors, rape, or other serious crimes. In such cases, the bill stipulated a minimum sentence of 20 years to life imprisonment and a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees.
Now that the Governor has returned the bill, it will be crucial to see what amendments the Dhami government makes and how it proceeds with the legislation.
