The Supreme Court today confirmed the order granting bail to an accused, who was arrested under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.

The Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Manoj Misra heard a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Kailash against an Allahabad High Court's order whereby he was denied bail.

In July, the High Court had denied bail to Kailash, emphasizing concerns over religious conversions in the country.

While disposing of the SLP today, the Court clarified, "The general observations made by the High Court had no bearing on the facts of the present case and were, therefore, not required for the disposal of the case. The observations, therefore, shall not be cited in any other case or proceeding in the High Court or in any other court."

It is to be noted that the Bench has issued notice in the SLP on August 27. "Pending further orders, the petitioner is directed to be released on bail subject to such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the trial judge in connection with Case Crime No. 201/2023," the Court had ordered on August 27.

Today, during the hearing, the Court heard Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal appearing for the petitioner and Additional Advocate General (AAG) Garima Prashad appearing for the State of UP.

"Bearing in mind that the petitioner was in custody since 21 May 2023, the charge-sheet has been submitted on 19 July 2023, we confirm the order dated 27 August 2024, enlarging the petitioner on bail, subject to the terms and conditions already specified. However, the petitioner shall cooperate in the investigation," the Court said in its order today.

Accordingly, the Court disposed of the SLP. "The Special Leave Petition is disposed of in the above terms. Pending application, if any, stands disposed of," the Court ordered.

Pertinently, on July 1, the Allahabad High Court had refused bail to Kailash. The Court had 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 had observed.

The Court had 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 reveal, 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 had 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 had said.

Cause Title: Kailash v. State of Uttar Pradesh

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal, Advocates Sanbha Rumnong, M.F. Philip, Lija Merin John, Karamveer Singh Yadav, Purnima Krishna (AOR), Vishwajeet

Respondent: AAG Garima Prashad, Advocates Akshay Amritanshu (AOR), Samyak Jain, Drishti Saraf, Pragya Upadhyay

Click here to read/download the Order


Chief Justice DY ChandrachudJustice Manoj MisraReligious ConversionAllahabad High Court

Sukriti Mishra