The Maharashtra Cabinet has cleared a draft anti-conversion Bill that makes it mandatory to seek permission from a designated authority before converting to another religion.Titled the Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam 2026, the proposed law seeks to prohibit unlawful religious conversions and prescribes stringent penalties for individuals and organisations found guilty of carrying them out.Under the draft legislation, those convicted could face imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh. Offences under the proposed law would be non-bailable, allowing the police to register cases where allegations of forced religious conversion are made.According to official sources, a person intending to convert must give a 60-day notice and seek prior permission from the designated authority. The conversion must also be registered within 25 days, failing which it will be considered null and void.The Bill further provides that if a blood relative of the person seeking conversion files a complaint alleging that the conversion is unlawful, the police will register an FIR and initiate a probe.The draft Bill was cleared by the state cabinet on March 5.With this, Maharashtra would join 12 other states that already have anti-conversion laws: Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.According to the proposed legislation, the right to religious freedom does not include the right to convert someone through force, fraud or allurement, but includes the right to protection from such unlawful conversions.Nitesh Rane, a minister in the Maharashtra government and a BJP leader, said the Cabinet had approved a strong anti-conversion law, fulfilling a promise made ahead of last year’s Assembly elections.Speaking to mediapersons on the Vidhan Bhavan premises, Rane said: “We had firmly stated during the Assembly elections that once we come to power, we will bring a strong anti-conversion law, also referred to as a law against love jihad, in Maharashtra. Today, I feel a deep sense of satisfaction that such a strong anti-conversion law has been approved by the Cabinet.”He thanked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar for approving the Bill under the proposed Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam 2026.A government resolution would be issued soon, he added.Rane said several activists and Hindutva organisations had earlier held protests and marches demanding such a law in the state. The legislation is expected to be introduced and passed in the legislature in the coming period.The move follows earlier indications from the state government about its intent to introduce a law against forced religious conversions. In February 2025, the Maharashtra Government issued a resolution announcing its plan to bring in such legislation and constituted a seven-member committee headed by the Director General of Police to examine legal provisions related to religious conversions and study similar laws in other states.Sources said the committee’s findings and a comparative study of laws in other states formed the basis of the proposed legislation. The draft was submitted to the government on February 26 and has now been approved by the Cabinet.