The complaint said that the accused tried to convert people using financial incentives and by promising free healthcare. The court said that these charges are not minor and need to be examined by the investigating agencies.
NEW DELHI: The Allahabad High Court refused to cancel a First Information Report (FIR) filed against four individuals who were accused of attempting to convert people to Christianity by offering money and free medical treatment.
The case was filed under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021.
Justice Vinod Diwaker, who gave the judgment on May 7, said the allegations were serious and deserved a full police investigation. The court stated that the FIR could not be quashed at this early stage.
The complaint said that the accused tried to convert people using financial incentives and by promising free healthcare. The court said that these charges are not minor and need to be examined by the investigating agencies.
While rejecting the plea to cancel the FIR, the court gave an important interpretation of Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which protects religious freedom.
The court observed:
“India’s constitutional framework guarantees the right to religious freedom under Article 25. This Article confers upon every person the fundamental right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health. The use of the word ‘freely’ in Article 25 underscores the voluntary nature of religious belief and expression.”
The bench further clarified that the Constitution does not support or protect religious conversions done through force or cheating.
It noted:
“However, the Constitution does not endorse forced or fraudulent conversions, nor does it shield coercive or deceptive practices under the guise of religious propagation.”
The court said that there have to be some limits on how religious freedom is used, so that society remains peaceful and no individual or group is harmed.
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The ruling highlighted:
“The presumption that one religion is inherently superior to other clearly presupposes the moral and spiritual superiority of one religion over another. Such notion is fundamentally antithetical to the idea of secularism. Indian secularism is rooted in the principle of equal respect for all religions. The state must neither identify with nor favour any religion, but instead maintain a principled equidistance from all religions and faith.”
Talking about the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021, the court explained the purpose of the law.
It said:
“The primary object of the Act is to prohibit conversions from one religion to another that are carried out through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, fraudulent means or marriage for the sole purpose of unlawful conversion. By targeting such methods, the law seeks to prevent exploitation and manipulation that could have broader destabilising effects on social harmony, besides disruption of law and order.”
Another important legal issue raised in this case was whether a police officer can file a complaint under Section 4 of the 2021 Act. This section usually allows only the victim or their close family members to file a complaint.
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The bench clarified that the station house officer (SHO) can register such FIRs. The court said that this law should be read along with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which gives police the power to act in cognizable offences.
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