The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020, unofficially referred to as the ‘love jihad law’ by most of the media, is a law enacted by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, India, on 24 November 2020.
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Key-Points
The Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020, recommends 1-5 years imprisonment if an accused fails to prove that the conversion of the woman was not for marriage or by use of force, allurement etc.
The jail sentence for the offence would be 3-10 years if the woman is from the SC/ST community or is seen as part of mass conversion.
The notice period to the district magistrate for the religious conversion has been doubled to two months from a month in an earlier draft.
The ordinance comes days after the Allahabad high court said in a verdict that the right to choose a partner or live with a person of choice was part of a citizen’s fundamental right to life and liberty. The verdict also said earlier court rulings that ‘religious conversion for marriage was unacceptable’ was not good in law.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath cited earlier HC verdicts to support his government’s decision to bring a law against ‘love jihad’, a term to call what they believe is a conspiracy by Muslims to convert Hindu women by luring them into love and marriage.
