Amid opposition Congress's protest and walkout, the Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday okayed the anti-conversion bill, passed by the legislative council last week with minor amendments, that seeks to replace the ordinance that was in place to give effect to the bill.
The 'Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill' was passed by the Legislative Assembly in December last.
The contentious anti-conversion bill was cleared by the Karnataka Cabinet on Monday and it is most likely to be tabled in the legislative Assembly on December 21, official sources said.
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to promulgate an ordinance to give effect to the contentious law against religious conversions.
The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that religious freedom does not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion and that it certainly does not embrace the right to convert an individual through fraud, deception, coercion or allurement.
State Congress president D K Shivakumar even tore papers on his table, in protest against the introduction of the bill, which his party called 'draconian and anti-constitution'.
The government will introduce a bill in this regard in the upcoming legislature session, which starts on July 3.
Congress partly vehemently opposed the bill, calling it "anti people", "inhuman", "anti constitutional", "anti poor" and "draconian", and urged that it should not be passed for any reason and should be withdrawn by the government.
The bill was passed in the assembly in December last year but was pending before the council where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is one short of a majority.
The consequences will be stern in case SC/ST and minors are converted.
To a query on the possibility of approaching court, Machado said that has not been decided, but it would be one of the options to stop the promulgation of the ordinance.
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