On Monday, 27th January, the Supreme Court stated that illegal religious conversion is not “as serious a crime” as murder, theft, rape, or dacoity. The court opined this while granting bail to a Maulvi who had deceptively converted a mentally challenged boy to Islam.
Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan meanwhile also slammed the trial court and the high court for not exercising their discretion while considering the bail plea. “There was no good reason for the High Court to decline bail. The offense alleged is not that serious or grave like murder, dacoity, rape, etc,” the duo said.
“Every year so many conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. are held to make the trial judges understand how to exercise their discretion while considering a bail application as if the trial judges do not know the scope of Section 439 of the CrPC or Section 483 of the BNSS,” the bench said.
“We are of the view that the High Court should have exercised its discretion by granting bail to the petitioner. There was no good reason for the High Court to decline bail. The offence alleged is not that grave like murder, dacoity, rape etc. We can understand that the trial court declined bail as trial courts seldom muster the courage to grant bail, be it any offense. However, at least, it was expected of the High Court to muster the courage and exercise its discretion judiciously” the court stated further while slamming Allahabad High Court for denying the bail.
The Maulvi accused of illegal religious conversion was charged under sections 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) respectively of the IPC and Sections 3 and 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
The court slammed the lower courts and said that the case shouldn’t have reached the top court. The trial court should have granted bail, if not, the higher court should have. “We fail to understand what harm would have befallen the prosecution if the petitioner would have been released on bail subject to appropriate terms and conditions,” the Supreme Court said.
“Discretion does not mean that the judge on his own whims and fancy declines bail saying conversion is something very serious,” it added.
Cases of illegal conversions in India
It is crucial to note that illegal religious conversions where the victims are misled, threatened and even blackmailed to convert have constantly emerged in the last few years. Islamists torture victims, especially women, assault them, and harass them mentally before forcing them to convert to Islam. On the other hand, Christian missionaries target poor tribals and lure them with money, superstitions, and food grains before forcing them to embrace Christianity.
Recently, a young Hindu woman committed suicide after being raped, cheated, and forcefully converted to Islam by accused Faraz Attar, from Shahdara in Delhi.
On 26th January, Lakhimpur Kheri police arrested two individuals, Baburam and Pastor Pramod Kumar Balmiki, over allegations of forced religious conversions in Bejham village under Neemgaon police jurisdiction. The two missionaries lured villagers into conversions with false promises, including healing powers, rice, and magical water. The accused also coerced individuals to abandon Hindu practices by removing their tilak and idols of deities from their homes.
In the given case, the accused Maulvi who converted a mentally challenged boy to Islam had been in custody for 11 months. The petitioner demanded bail saying that the allegations were not that serious. Meanwhile, the state argued that the charges included sections 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the state’s anti-conversion law, which prescribes a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Rejecting the objections, the court bench clarified that keeping the accused in custody during the bail period was unnecessary, as prolonged detention could not be justified solely on the gravity of the allegations. The bench reiterated that the lower courts would have exercised their rights and shouldn’t have allowed the case to reach the top court. The Allahabad HC had denied bail to the Maulvi in May 2024.
