South Korean National, 3 Residents Denied Bail Under UP Ordinance On Religious Conversion

The Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Pratap Singh denied bail to South Korean national Minkaygali alias Anmol, Umesh Kumar, Sandhya and Seema, who have been booked on charges of using enticement to convert people to Christianity.

The FIR against them was lodged at the Surajpur police station in Gautam Buddha Nagar under Section 3/5 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 & Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or reli­gious beliefs).

The Matter before the Court

As per the Prosecution case against the bail applicants, the matter is related to an attempt made by accused to effectuate the conversion of 2 women by way of misrepresentation, undue influence, allurement and fraudulent means in connivance with a foreign national.

The government counsel further submitted before the Court the four accused were involved in "mass conversion" as defined under Section 2 (f) of the ordinance.

It may be noted that "mass conversion" [as defined under Section 2 (f) of the ordinance] includes the cases wherein two or more persons are converted.

Further, the Ordinance provides that whoever is found indulged in mass conversion (while contravening the provisions of law), shall be punished with imprisonment which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to 10 years and shall also be liable to fine which shall not be less than 50,000.

Section 5 (1) of the ordinance provides a minimum punishment of 3 years and a maximum of 10 years for violating it.

The Prosecution alleged that the South Korean National (Minkaygali) came to India for a period of 3 months on a tourist visa but she is now involved in the offence punishable under the newly promulgated Ordinance.

The prosecution also alleged that accused started visiting the house of Complainant Anita Sharma and Muski Gupta and asked them to visit a temporary church and also gave them ration.

Further, Anita was given Rs. 7,000 and Muski was given Rs. 3,000 and they were asked to remove the idols/murti/images of Hindu God & Goddess from their respective homes and were offered 10 lakh each if they convert their religion.

On the other hand, the accused persons submitted before the court (in their bail application and through their counsel) that they have been falsely implicated in the matter by the police in collusion with the complainant and that they did not offer the Complainants any ration or money.

They also contended before the Court that they had nothing to do with any conversion and that in fact, three of them are followers of Hindu religion.

Noting that "as per the facts and circumstances of the case, the crime is of a serious nature" the Judge denied them the benefit of bail and thus dismissed their bail application.

Background developments

The Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Anandiben Patel on 28^th November promulgated the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020 (Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Viruddh Dharm Samparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadesh 2020).

UP Governor Promulgates Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020

Notably, the Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Anandiben Patel promulgated The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020. The ordinance has been published in the gazette notification (dated 09th January 2021).

Madhya Pradesh Governor Promulgates The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Ordinance, 2020

This law has several provisions that are similar to the ordinance issued by Uttar Pradesh Government.

The Supreme Court on Monday (25^th January) refused to transfer to itself the petitions filed in Allahabad High Court challenging the ordinance brought by the Uttar Pradesh government against religious conversions, which among other things, criminalizes religious conversions for marriage.

"If the Allahabad High Court is going to decide the cases, why should we interfere," remarked a Bench headed Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and dismissed the application as withdrawn.

The Supreme Court had issued notice on the petitions challenging UP & Uttarkhand Governments' Ordinances against religious conversions for the sake of marriages, on January 6. Though the bench had expressed initial reluctance to entertain them as the High Court was seized of the issue, following the persuasions made by the petitioners' advocates, the bench agreed to issue notice but refused to stay the laws.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Government filed its counter-affidavit before the Allahabad High Court and requested Chief Justice Govind Mathur to adjourn the matter sine die.

The Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal submitted that since the Top Court has already taken cognizance of the matter and has issued notice to State Government, it may not be appropriate for the High Court to continue the hearing.

Now, with the Supreme Court's refusal to transfer to itself the petitions, the High Court, on 02^nd February, will be hearing the PILs filed before it challenging the ordinance

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