Allahabad High Court asks police authorities not to arrest SHUATS VC in religious conversion case

PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday directed police not to arrest a university Vice-Chancellor till February 15 in a religious conversion case lodged last year in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur. The interim relief was given to Professor RB Lal of the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS). Justice Manju Rani Chauhan passed the order in an anticipatory bail application filed by Lal.

The court, while granting interim relief to the applicant, observed, "If the applicant appears before the investigating officer (IO) on February 13 and 15, 2023, and files an undertaking to that effect before the IO on February 13, 2023, itself surrendering his passport, if any, to further the investigation, the IO shall ensure that neither the applicant be arrested nor any coercive action is taken in the present case till February 15, 2023."

On April 15 last year, an FIR was registered on the complaint of Himanshu Dixit and it alleged that 90 people from the Hindu community congregated at the Evangelical Church of India, Hariharganj, Fatehpur, for the purpose of their conversion to Christianity. He had alleged that they had been influenced and lured. In the case, police had named 35 people and said 30 unknown people had fled the spot. The applicant's plea was that he was not named in the FIR, however, he was implicated at a subsequent stage on the basis of statements given by two witnesses and the investigating officer of the case.

Counsel for state government sought some time to render further assistance in the matter to establish "indiscernible multipronged act of the accused including collection and siphoning of foreign funds behind the curtain for the divergent purpose of forceful mass conversion of innocent poor and physically impaired persons who are admittedly patients in the Hospital of Mission or are in any manner connected with Missionaries running across the State."

The court on this observed, “On the request made by learned counsel appearing for both the parties, the case is posted for February 16, 2023 as fresh for further hearing.” According to the prosecution, on receiving this information of alleged conversion, the government officers reached the place and interrogated the pastor Vijay Massiah. He disclosed that the process for conversion was going on for the last 34 days. Earlier, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed a petition filed by Lal challenging the FIR registered in the case and seeking its quashing.