lucknow vidhan parishad on thursday passed the uttar pradesh prohibition of unlawful conversion of religion bill 2021 by voice vote amid protest by the opposition it will now become an act once governor anandiben patel gives her assentthe state cabinet in november last year had cleared the prohibition of unlawful religious conversion ordinance 2020 it was passed by state assembly on tuesdaythe bill was tabled in vidhan parishad where the government does not enjoy a majority on thursday leader of opposition ahmed hasan of samajwadi party and deepak singh of congress pointed to the shortcomings of the bill and urged that it be sent to a select committeesp mlc ahmed hasan said the bill should be sent to a select committee there are reports that police are misusing itthere are provisions in ipc to check religious conversion and new law is not needed the government has brought the bill to cover up its failures of the last four years deepak singh supported hasananother sp mlc shashank yadav said that a few sections of the bill were totally against the basic value of the constitution the view of the government that religious conversion cannot be done by violating law is right but for this laws are already present he addedthere have been some cases in which the parents of the boy and the girl are saying that the marriage is taking place with consent from both sides but any person is lodging a complaint citing blood relationship and the police is registering a case yadav saidbsp member dinesh chandra said there are provisions already present in the constitution to stop forcible religious conversion and hence there was no need for a new lawdeputy chief minister dinesh sharma said this law is not related to any particular religion many other states have such a law but with different names the state government has no intention to allow its misuse if there is any such report strict action will be takenbjp mlc mohsin raza said that the bill was meant to bring justice to peoplechairman kunwar manvendra singh rejected the proposals of amendments given by the leader of the opposition and sp members saying that the proposals are not as per the law amid the ruckus made by the sp members the chairman declared that the bill had been passed by a voice voteafter this sp members trooped into the well and tore copies of the billthe bill seeks to replace the ordinance promulgated in november last year that provides for imprisonment up to 10 years and a maximum fine of rs 50000 for violatorsunder the provisions of the bill a marriage will be declared null and void if the conversion is solely for that purpose and those wishing to change their religion after marriage need to apply to the district magistrate 60 days in advanceas per the bill no person shall convert either directly or indirectly from one religion to another by use or practice of misrepresentation force undue influence coercion allurement