President Murmu clears Maharashtra anti-conversion law; state notification awaited | Mumbai News
2 min readJul 31, 2026 05:48 PM IST
The Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, commonly referred to as the state’s anti-conversion law, has received the President’s assent, clearing the final constitutional hurdle before it comes into force.
Highly placed sources told The Indian Express that President Droupadi Murmu has approved the legislation and Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan has forwarded it to the state government for notification.
“The Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill has received the approval of the Hon’ble President of India. The Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra has sent it to the state government for notification,” a source said.
The law will take effect only after the Maharashtra government issues a notification specifying the date of its enforcement. Sources said the timing of the notification will be decided by the state government.
The legislation was passed by the Assembly during the Budget Session in March and subsequently cleared by the Legislative Council before being sent to the Governor and then the President for assent.
The Act prohibits religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, allurement, misrepresentation or under the promise of marriage. It mandates a 60-day prior notice to the district magistrate before conversion, allows complaints by parents, siblings and other relatives of the convert, places the burden of proving that a conversion was voluntary on the person conducting it, and prescribes imprisonment of up to seven years for violations, rising to 10 years for repeat offenders.
The Bill had sparked sharp political debate when it was introduced. The ruling Mahayuti alliance backed the legislation, while the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Samajwadi Party opposed it. Shiv Sena (UBT) supported the Bill.
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Defending the legislation during the Budget Session, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said it was intended to curb forced or fraudulent religious conversions and was not aimed at voluntary conversions or interfaith marriages.
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