Current Affairs - State - Discussion

President Droupadi Murmu approved the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act, 2026, completing the final constitutional requirement before the law can come into force. The Act will become effective only after the Maharashtra Government issues an official notification. It prohibits religious conversions carried out through coercion, fraud, misrepresentation, inducement, violence, or marriage for conversion purposes, while permitting voluntary conversions. The law also requires a 60-day advance notice to the district magistrate before conversion, allows close relatives to file complaints, shifts the burden of proving voluntary conversion to the person conducting it, and prescribes imprisonment of up to seven years for offences and up to ten years for repeat violations.