Supreme Court Stays Trial Court Proceedings in UP Religious Conversion Cases
Credit: NDTV
17.05.2024: The Supreme Court has halted criminal proceedings in Uttar Pradesh against the vice-chancellor of the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) and others, who are accused of illegally converting Hindus to Christianity.
Supreme Court’s Decision
On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a stay on the trial court proceedings for the five cases lodged against SHUATS VC Rajendra Bihari Lal and others. The bench, consisting of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted that there should be no further proceedings related to the FIRs in the trial court.
Protection and Arguments
The Supreme Court has been consistently providing protection from arrest and granting bail to the accused. Despite the Uttar Pradesh government’s request to continue trial court proceedings, the bench decided otherwise. Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Rajendra Bihari Lal, argued for the stay of trial proceedings, highlighting that the accused would need to appear in court due to new chargesheets filed by the state police.
Senior lawyer Mukta Gupta, representing another accused, pointed out that the state police had not recorded testimony from any alleged victims claimed to have been coerced into converting to Christianity.
Next Steps
The Supreme Court will resume the hearing on August 2, as it considers nine petitions seeking either the quashing or consolidation of the five FIRs against the SHUATS VC and others.
Allegations and Legal Charges
The cases against Rajendra Bihari Lal include serious charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, such as:
- Section 307 (attempt to murder)
- Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace)
- Section 386 (extortion)
Additionally, the charges include violations of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The Uttar Pradesh Police have labeled Lal and the other accused as the primary orchestrators of a large-scale religious conversion program, allegedly funded by sources from about 20 countries.
Police Claims
The police have further claimed that Rajendra Bihari Lal is a “notorious criminal” with 38 cases of various offenses, including cheating and murder, registered across Uttar Pradesh over the past two decades. They also allege that around 90 Hindus were gathered at the Evangelical Church of India in Hariharganj, Fatehpur, where they were coerced and lured into converting to Christianity through fraudulent promises and undue influence.
The Supreme Court’s stay on the trial court proceedings brings a temporary halt to the ongoing legal battles faced by the accused in these high-profile religious conversion cases. The next hearing is set for August 2, where the court will further deliberate on the petitions and the future course of the cases.