If Religious Conversion Is Allowed Majority Population Of India Would Be In Minority One Day; Religious Congregations Should Be Immediately Stopped: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court has refused bail to an accused under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, emphasizing concerns over religious conversions in the country.

The Court expressed apprehension that if religious congregations facilitating conversions are not curbed, the current majority population could eventually become a minority.

"If this process is allowed to be carried out, the majority population of this country would be in minority one day, and such religious congregation should be immediately stopped where the conversion is taking place and changing religion of citizen of India," the Bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal observed.

The case before the Court involved allegations that several individuals, including the informant's brother, were taken from their village to Delhi under the pretext of attending a "well-being" gathering, which purportedly aimed at converting them to Christianity.

As per the FIR, the Applicant had promised the informant that her brother, who was suffering from mental illness, would be treated, and returned to his native village, within a week. When the brother of the informant did not return after a week, she told the Applicant that her brother had not returned; however, she did not get any satisfactory reply.

Highlighting the constitutional perspective, the Single Judge underscored that while Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice, and propagate religion, it does not explicitly sanction religious conversions. "The word "Propagation" means to promote, but it does not mean to convert any person from his religion to another religion," the Court said.

The Court noted, "...there are serious allegations against the applicant by the informant that her brother was taken away from the village to attend the gathering of well-being at New Delhi and along with him number of persons from the said village were also taken there, and they are being converted into Christianity. Brother of the informant never returned to the village. Statements recorded by the I.O. of various other persons clearly reveals, at this stage, that the applicant- Kailash had been taking away people to attend the religious congregation held at New Delhi, where they are being converted into Christianity."

Furthermore, the Court noted with concern the alleged unlawful conversion activities targeting individuals from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), economically disadvantaged groups, and others across Uttar Pradesh. "It has come into notice of this Court in several cases that unlawful activity of conversion of people of SC/ST castes and other castes including economically poor persons into Christianity is being done at rampant pace throughout the State of Uttar Pradesh," it said.

"This Court, prima facie, finds that the applicant is not entitled for bail. Hence, the bail application of applicant involved in the aforesaid case crime is, hereby, rejected," the Bench ordered.

Cause Title: Kailash v. State of UP [Neutral Citation: - 2024:AHC:105940]

Appearance:-

Applicant: Advocate Saket Jaiswal

Opposite Party: Additional Advocate General (AAG) P. K. Giri, Advocate Sunil Kumar (AGA)

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