U.P. Prohibition Of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act Enacted To Curtail Prevailing Malady In Society: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court observed that frequent interference with the initial stage of prosecution under the U.P. Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021 (the Act) would fail to achieve its purpose of curtailing “mischief in society.”
The Bench refused to interfere with the FIR lodged against the accused, a woman, involving charges of criminal intimidation, rape and forced religious conversion under the Act. The accused wanted the victim to marry her husband's younger brother after converting to Islam.
A Division Bench of Justice J.J. Munir and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal observed, “The Act of 2021 is a new statute which has been enacted by the legislature to curtail a prevailing malady in society. If there is frequent interference with prosecutions at the initial stage under the Act of 2021, the legislation which is still young and designed to curtail a mischief in society that is rife it would be bogged down and fail to achieve its purpose.”
Advocate Avanish Pratap Singh represented the petitioner, while AGA Shashi Shekhar Tiwari appeared for the respondents.
The accused was charged under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, alongside Sections 3 and 5(1) of the Act. The charges stemmed from allegations that the co-accused, who was the husband of the accused, had been stalking the victim since 2022. He would follow her to the temple and college and eventually became friends with her. During this period, he once called the victim to his home and “ravished” her, which later became a regular feature.
Subsequently, the co-accused's brother also allegedly began to stalk the victim and subjecting her to threats. The prosecution claimed that the co-accused and his brother and wife (accused) acted in conspiracy to pressurise the victim to convert to Islam and marry the brother.
The accused argued that the specific allegations of rape were directed at the male accused and not her. However, the Court noted that “the allegation is very definite and fits into a complete scheme of things between the two men and the petitioner. She is married to one of them and is his wife. She wanted the prosecutrix to marry her husband's younger brother and do so after conversion to Islam.”
The Bench explained that the Act was enacted by the legislature to curtail the “prevailing malady” in society. Therefore, if there were frequent prosecutions at the initial stages, then the legislation would fail to achieve its purpose.
Consequently, the Court held, “Considering the allegations in the FIR and the fact that there is also an attempt to convert the petitioner, which is prohibited under the Act of 2021, we do not think that this is a case where we should interfere with the investigation at all.”
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the petition.
Cause Title: Ruksar v. State of U.P. & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024:AHC:101896-DB)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates Avanish Pratap Singh and Udai Bhan Singh
Respondents: AGA Shashi Shekhar Tiwari