'Not against any religion': Maharashtra assembly passes Freedom of Religion Bill; Congress calls it unconstitutional, one-sided

MUMBAI: The legislative assembly late Monday passed the Freedom of Religion Bill 2026 tabled by Mahayuti govt. While Sena (UBT) supported it, Congress, NCP (SP), Samajwadi Party and CPI (M) opposed it and demanded that it be sent to a joint select committee for review, inviting suggestions/objections from the public. It is likely to be tabled in the Legislative Council Tuesday.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the bill was not against any religion, but was to protect the freedom of religion for all. Outside the assembly, Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said freedom of religion should be for everyone and if anyone is converting by force or by taking advantage of someone's helplessness and falsely luring them, his party would be against it. "We support that bill fully," Uddhav said.

Introducing the Bill in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, the CM said the legislation is a law aimed at preventing religious conversion carried out through coercion, inducement, fraud, or deception, adding it is 100% constitutional. Fadnavis said similar laws were already enacted in 12 other states including Odisha, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Arunachal Pradesh, among others. He said the bill was brought in to bring clarity in cases of unlawful conversion.

The motion to pass the bill was moved by minister of state Pankaj Bhoyar. It is likely to be tabled in the Legislative Council Tuesday.

Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said his party supported the bill.

Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh termed the bill as unconstitutional and said it was an absolute infringement on the right to privacy and its provisions could compel people who want to marry someone from an another faith to die by suicide. SP MLA Rais Shaikh termed the bill as regressive and it said it was one-sided to target one particular community. Congress MLA Amin Patel said it was a violation of the Constitution.

"Cases of inter-faith marriages often give rise to law and order situations; consequently, once such a situation emerges, effective action must be taken to address it. As things stand, the currently prevailing laws—whether it be the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or various other statutes—lack explicit provisions specifically addressing this matter. Consequently, we rely on existing provisions within these laws; for instance, we frequently invoke the provisions related to fraud in such instances," the CM said.

"If specific provisions are in place, such difficulties related to unlawful conversion or interfaith marriages do not arise. Therefore—to ensure clarity and prevent recurring issues witnessed recently, wherein groups from opposing sides confront one another and consequently trigger law and order disturbances—this Bill has been introduced. Fundamentally, as you are aware, Article 25 of the Constitution grants every individual the right to freedom of religion; our Constitution bestows upon us the right to choose and practice any religion we wish. This bill is in letter and spirit 100% in tune with the Constitution," he said.

"Religion is a personal matter but the bill mandates people to give a notice for 60 days before converting. Why is that? Why should a person declare and announce he wants to convert and make a big buzz about it? After that, who will ensure such a person's protection and safety? There are no provisions for that in the bill. The burden of proof is also on the accused which is unconstitutional. This bill will be an injustice on lovers of different faiths who are adults. They will be punished for falling in love. Govt has spoken of love jihad cases but could not even show us any statistics or examples," Aslam Shaikh said.