The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has condemned the third attempt of the Rajasthan Government to bring in the anti-conversion law, passing the bill with “errors and questionable legality” in the State Assembly.
The state assembly passed the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025 — which introduces sweeping measures to curb unlawful religious conversions — on Tuesday.
The NGO has also stated that it will lobby with the Rajasthan Governor or the President, as required, to prevent their assent. Similar to earlier occasions, the PUCL will make efforts to convince the governor or the president, to whom the bill will go for assent, not to sign it.
According to Bhanwar Meghwanshi, State President of PUCL, Rajasthan, “It is a draconian law; its legality is in question. It takes away from individuals the core constitutional right to freedom of conscience by putting in place drastic machinery provisions for conversions, and the punishments provided would not stand in a court of law”.
”The Bill overrides all fundamental rights and articles in the Constitution. Its provisions violate free speech and interfaith dialogue, choice, equality, and free will; are overbroad; involve excessive punishment enmeshed in procedure; and favour the policies of one religion,” Bhanwar stated in a press note.
The bill was passed in the assembly without the participation of the opposition members, who were protesting in the House. “Such an important bill affecting major constitutional rights was passed without proper debate. The Speaker wanted to push the bill through anyhow,” he said.
Earlier too, the PUCL had lobbied successfully for preventing the presidential assent to the bill. In the earlier attempts in 2005 and 2008, the PUCL had played a full role in convincing the erstwhile governors with constitutional arguments, showing how these laws were unlawful, Bhanwar recalled.
“The bills were forwarded to the president of the day by the respective governor. When SK Singh was the governor in 2008, Ms Pratibha Patil was the president; it was due to these efforts of lobbying and efforts at all levels that Rajasthan did not get a law to date. It was in 2018, when the 2008 bill finally found its way back to Rajasthan, with a series of questions related to the legality of certain provisions,” Bhanwar stated.