Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection From Arrest To SHUATS VC, Officials In UP Police FIR Over Alleged Forceful Religious Conversion

The Supreme Court today granted interim protection from arrest to the Vice Chancellor and other officials of the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Science (SHUATS) in a case pertaining to alleged forceful religious conversion of a woman to Christianity.

The vacation bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice KV Vishwanathan was hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against an order of the Allahabad High Court refusing to quash an FIR lodged against the Vice Chancellor (Dr.) Rajendra Bihari Lal and Director Vinod Bihari Lal and five other officials of the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Science (SHUATS) accused of persuading a woman to adopt Christianity by offering her a job and other allurement. The Allahabad High Court had observed that no true religion on the earth would approve of malpractices by the priest or the Godmen.

Today, the Supreme Court stayed this order of the High Court till January 12 or until further orders were passed in the matter, whichever was earlier. The bench stated–

"Until that date there shall be an interim order protecting the petitioners from arrest in connection with FIR 305/2023."

The order was passed after the counsel for petitioners Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave argued that the Allahabad High Court had taken away his right of anticipatory bail and that the girl who alleged religious conversion and rape upon the officials did so after she was sacked from her job in 2022. He stated–

"There is a grave danger. The direction at the last– it requires me to surrender tomorrow and then apply for regular bail. My right of anticipatory bail is gone. First allegation of conversion is 2005, the anti conversion law came into 2021. There is allegation of rape is in 2011. 2014 she started working in the University and then she was sacked in 2022."

Upon hearing his arguments, the bench stayed the High Court order.

The FIR was registered by Bewar Police station for offences punishable under Sections 328, 376D, 365, 506 IPC, Section 3/5(1) of UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 and Section 5 of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956

It may be recalled that the High Court bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi and Justice Mohd. Azhar Husain Idrisi had observed in its order that–

“No God or true Church or Temple or Mosque would approve such type of malpractices. If someone on his own, has chosen to get him converted to a different religion is totally another aspect of the issue. In the instant case prevailing upon a tender mind of a young girl providing gifts, clothing and other physical amenities and then asking her to get her baptised is an unpardonable sin.”

It may further be recalled that the SHUATS VC was also accused in a mass religious conversion case earlier. In that matter, the Supreme Court had stayed his arrest. 

As per the present FIR, the victim is an alumnus of Allahabad University, who completed her BA in November 2005, during her student days, she met one Rekha Patel (accused no. 2), who used to allure her fellow girls by providing lots of gifts and other articles of their choice to convert them to Christianity. The FIR, though lodged in November 2023, further stated that the victim belonged to the lower middle class, and was trapped by Patel, who took her regularly to the church. The FIR also stated that she was regularly subjected to sexual exploitation by the accused/petitioners including RB Lal (accused no. 1/VC of SHUATS) and she was persuaded and pressurised to bring women for conversion and other illegal works.

In 2014, she was allegedly baptised and thereafter, she was offered the job as a Stenographer (Hindi) in the Directorate of (HRM&R) SHUATS, however, she was later sacked in the year 2022, after she was found guilty by the internal inquiry committee for cheating a person of 5.5 lacs.

Seeking quashing of the FIR l, the petitioners-accused argued that the victim was offered a job at SHUATS and she was sacked from her service in the year 2022 and hence, by way of retaliation, she had tailored a story as mentioned in the FIR, just to rope in all the higher officials of SHUATS including the Vice- Chancellor.

Case Title: Rajendra Bihari Lal and Ors v The State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors | SLP(Crl) No. 16557/2023

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