SC calls UP govt, police biased for invoking anti-conversion laws without basis

The Supreme Court rapped the Uttar Pradesh government and the state police for their recent trend of filing false conversion cases against Muslims using UP’s anti-conversion laws, observing that both the state and its police seemed biased while hearing a case challenging an Allahabad High Court order.

The court stated that the charges of rape and conversion were uncalled for, suggesting that the police’s approach appeared biased and raising concerns over the fairness of the investigation.

A bench comprising the Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar was hearing an appeal against a High Court order that had denied bail to a man accused of forcibly converting a Hindu woman, who had a daughter from a previous relationship to Islam and marrying her.

The High Court, in rejecting the bail plea, had asserted that while individuals have the constitutional right to practise and propagate their religion, this cannot be extended to justify proselytisation, and religious freedom must apply equally to both the person converting and the one being converted.

During the proceedings, the Supreme Court questioned the necessity of invoking the state’s anti-conversion law in this case, pointing out that the facts did not seem to justify its application. The bench granted the Uttar Pradesh government five days to submit a counter-affidavit and provided an additional five days for the appellant to file a rejoinder, scheduling the next hearing for April 21, 2025. It also directed its Registry to verify procedural inconsistencies related to the service of notice in the case.

According to the prosecution’s account recorded in the High Court order, the woman, a resident of West Bengal, had been living with the accused in Deoband since May 2022 along with her minor daughter.

She alleged that she was coerced into converting to Islam and was forced to sign documents related to her marriage in Hindi, a language she claimed she could neither read nor write. She also accused the man and his associates of gang rape and stated that her minor daughter had been subjected to religious conversion as well.

The accused, however, maintained that he was being falsely implicated and claimed that the allegations were intended to harass him. He asserted that the woman had voluntarily entered into the relationship with full knowledge of his religious identity and denied any coercion in matters related to her child.

He further contended that the marriage had taken place with the consent of both families, that he had arranged for the child’s education in a reputed institution, and that all identification documents had been updated as per the woman’s own wishes.