Centre rejects Shakti Bill, report on ‘love jihad’ law soon

During the winter session, the government will take a final call on a potential law against ‘Love Jihad’ and forcible religious conversion, CM Fadanavis said

Nagpur: Even as the winter session of the legislative assembly and the legislative council commences in Nagpur on Monday, several bills passed by the state legislature over the past three years are awaiting the assent of the central government and the President. These include the Maharashtra Shakti Bill, the Maharashtra State Public Security Act and the Maharashtra Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta Bill.

CM Devendra Fadnavis (HT PHOTO)

During the winter session, the government will take a final call on a potential law against ‘Love Jihad’ and forcible religious conversion, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Sunday.

HT graphic

“The committee of senior officers under the DGP (director general of police) has finalised its report and will submit it soon. A call on the legislation will be taken after that,” he said.

The seven-member committee headed by DGP Rashmi Shukla was, in February 2025, tasked with investigating alleged instances of ‘love jihad’ (where Muslim men allegedly lure Hindu girls into marriage to convert them) and recommending legal frameworks and remedial measures for a potential anti-conversion law.

While addressing the media in Nagpur, Fadnavis said the Maharashtra Special Security Act, passed by the state legislature early this year, will receive the President’s assent soon.

He also said that the central government had rejected the Maharashtra Shakti bill passed by the state legislature in 2020-21 for overlapping provisions with central laws and constitutional rights.

“The centre has sent back the bill to us saying the provisions overlap with constitutional rights (of citizens) and powers (of central laws). It has also convened that since the central government has introduced three new criminal laws (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, Bharatiya Saksha Sanhita) with stringent provisions, they empower the law-enforcement agencies to take action, as intended in the Shakti Bill,” the chief minister said.

The Shakti bill was aimed at providing swift justice and stringent punishments for crimes against women and children. It proposed capital punishment for heinous offenses like rape and acid attacks, and mandated quicker investigations.

Fadnavis also said that the Maharashtra Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta Bill had received the president’s assent.

“The central government has, however, suggested an amendment related to the provision of inquiry by the state Lokayukta into corruption cases involving central government employees. They have informed us that since any action against central government employees comes under the purview of the Lokpal Act at the national level, it needs to be dropped from the state Act,” he said.

The Maharashtra Lokayukta Bill, 2022 empowered the Lokayukta to order anti-corruption probes, a significant shift from the older law, and brought the chief minister, deputy chief minister, ministers and high-ranking officials under the ambit of the law.