Panaji: The Goa government on Monday decided not to introduce its controversial anti-religious conversion Bill in the State Assembly during the ongoing monsoon session, following opposition from MLAs representing the Christian community, including members of the ruling BJP.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held a meeting with minority community MLAs, including BJP legislators Michael Lobo and Delilah Lobo, and Independent MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on Monday morning, following which the decision was conveyed to the legislators.
Lourenco, who has been supporting the BJP-led government, said Sawant assured the legislators that the Bill would not be tabled during the three-day session.
“I had made my stand clear that if the government tabled it, I would oppose it,” Lourenco told reporters.
He said there was no need for such legislation in Goa, claiming that government data showed there were no instances of forced religious conversions in the state.
BJP MLA Delilah Lobo, who attended the meeting, also confirmed that the government would not introduce the Bill in the House.
The development comes days after the state Cabinet approved the “Goa Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2026”, which was initially scheduled to be tabled during the monsoon session that began on Monday.
The proposed legislation seeks to prohibit religious conversions allegedly carried out through force, coercion, undue influence, allurement, fraudulent means or marriage. It proposes stringent punishment, including imprisonment of up to life, a minimum fine of Rs 50,000 and compensation of up to Rs 5 lakh for victims.
The Bill also proposes that a marriage could be declared void if it is found to have been solemnised solely for the purpose of unlawful conversion. It prescribes enhanced punishment in cases involving minors, women, persons with disabilities or mental illness, and members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The proposed legislation had triggered opposition from Congress and AAP, which argued that it could create communal disharmony in Goa. Independent MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco had also publicly appealed to the government in recent months to reconsider its decision to introduce the Bill.
The legislation had also faced objections from Christian organisations, which said they opposed forced or fraudulent conversions but questioned the need for a separate law, arguing that such acts were already punishable under existing criminal laws.
Government data placed before the Assembly earlier this year showed that four cases relating to alleged illegal religious conversion or attempts were registered in Goa between 2021 and 2025 — two each in 2022 and 2023, with no such cases recorded in 2021, 2024 and 2025.
