Allahabad High Court grants bail to man charged under UP’s anti-conversion law

By LE Desk

Allahabad, June 14, 2021: The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to a man from Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district who was charged for rape, abduction, and unlawful religious conversion under the state’s new anti-conversion law.

A single-judge bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi noted the woman applicant and the accused were in a relationship for over four years when the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, was not in place, India Today reported. The bench also noted that till date, the woman has not been converted to another religion and hence, the provisions of Section 12 of the Ordinance do not apply to the case.

“All of a sudden, after coming this Ordinance into existence, she got aware about her rights. Her mental thinking exposes about her conduct. She was a willful and active participant in all actions faced by her during last four years,” the bench said.

“She resides in the same locality where the applicant resides. In such circumstances, it is unswallowable proposition that in a small city, like Mahoba, she was not aware about the background of applicant or about his religion that too for four good years,” the bench added, reported India Today.

The woman and the accused used to reside in the same locality in Mahoba. According to an FIR registered at the Kotwali Nagar police station on March 4 this year, the woman has alleged that the man took her obscene pictures and videos and used them to blackmail her into maintaining physical relations with him for over four years.

The FIR further states that on December 8 last year, the woman got married to another person and went to Delhi. When she came back to Mahoba in February this year, she went with the accused to Orai where he allegedly ravished her and started compelling her to change her religion.

After taking into consideration the evidence on record and the submissions made by the counsel, the court granted bail to the accused on conditions. The court noted, “Cumulative effect of all above factors clearly indicate that the victim was dire interested to remain in the company of applicant, and even after her marriage she wanted to maintain the relationship with him.”

In March 2021, the Uttar Pradesh government issued a gazette notification to enforce the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, which was already in place since December 2020. The Bill was given clearance by Governor Anandiben Patel on March 4.

https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/allahabad-high-court-grants-bail-man-up-anti-conversion-law-1814286-2021-06-13