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Observing that transgression instrumentality cannot beryllium a instrumentality to harass guiltless citizens, the Supreme Court connected Friday (October 17, 2025) quashed respective FIRs registered astatine Fatehpur territory of Uttar Pradesh implicit alleged offence of "mass spiritual conversions" of Hindus into Christianity.
In a important judgement connected invocation of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, a Bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra quashed arsenic galore arsenic 5 First Information Reports against respective persons including Rajendra Bihari Lal, vice-chancellor of Uttar Pradesh’s Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS).
Justice Pardiwala, who authored a 158-page judgement, recovered that the FIRs were vitiated by ineligible infirmities, procedural lapses, and deficiency of credible material, and ruled that continuing specified prosecutions would magnitude to a “travesty of justice”.
‘Glaring infirmities’
“The transgression instrumentality cannot beryllium allowed to beryllium made a instrumentality of harassment of guiltless persons, allowing prosecuting agencies to initiate prosecution astatine their whims and fancy, connected the ground of wholly incredulous material...,” the verdict said portion referring to “glaring infirmities” successful registration of 1 of the FIRs lodged successful 2022.
Referring to the facts of 1 of the FIRs, the verdict said: “It was not unfastened to the constabulary to flooded the trouble by getting persons with vested interests to marque complaints regarding the aforesaid alleged incidental aft a sizeable hold and thereafter initiate a caller circular of probe against mostly the aforesaid acceptable of accused persons. Unfortunately, this is the lone content which the worldly connected grounds has near connected us.” The Bench rejected the submissions that the FIRs should not beryllium quashed by the apical tribunal portion exercising its powerfulness nether Article 32 (right to determination SC for enforcement of cardinal rights) nether the Constitution.
“This court, arsenic the highest law court, has been conferred with the powers arsenic enshrined nether Part III of the Constitution to supply remedies against the usurpation of cardinal rights. The precise information that the close to law remedies has itself been enshrined arsenic a cardinal close is simply a wide affirmation that this tribunal is the eventual guarantor of their enforcement. Once the Constitution has formed specified a work upon it, this Court request not nonstop a petitioner to prosecute an alternate remedy, erstwhile the grievance stems from the alleged usurpation of a cardinal right,” it said, adding the bonzer facts demanded that the FIR beryllium quashed.
It dealt successful item the facts of each FIR and pointed retired the glaring deficiency including that nary unfortunate of conversion approached the constabulary with the complaint.
Also Read: Medieval-minded: On anti-conversion instrumentality successful Uttar Pradesh, its amendments
Detagging of pleas
However, the Bench ordered detagging of the pleas related to 1 of the six FIRs connected the crushed that it pertained to immoderate different offences for caller adjudication and made wide that interim extortion granted to the accused earlier shall proceed till the substance is yet decided.
Referring to judgments, it said, “Where the High Court is satisfied that the process of immoderate tribunal is being abused oregon apt to beryllium abused oregon that the ends of justness would not beryllium secured, it is not lone empowered but besides obligated nether the instrumentality to workout its inherent powers...”
The Bench, however, said the U.P. law, being a peculiar legislation, has prescribed definite peculiar procedural norms arsenic distinguished from the CrPC.
“It is simply a settled presumption of instrumentality that the volition of the legislature should beryllium construed from the plain substance of the statute, and if the plain mentation does not effect into immoderate absurdity oregon is not unworkable, past the courts should not depart from the meaning which is manifest from the plain text,” it said.
Dealing with the veracity of statements of witnesses, it said, “Neither the witnesses underwent unlawful spiritual conversion, nor were they contiguous astatine the spot of the alleged wide conversion dated April 14, 2022.” Referring to a judgment, the tribunal quashed an FIR observing that the “existence of aggregate FIRs for the aforesaid alleged incidental stamps an maltreatment of investigative powers”.
The Bench stated that repeated registration of FIRs successful respect of the aforesaid occurrence “undermines the fairness of the investigative process and exposes the accused to unwarranted harassment”.
The petitions acrophobic six FIRs lodged betwixt December 2021 and January 2023 nether assorted provisions of the IPC and the U.P. law.
One of the FIRs was registered connected April 15, 2022 astatine Kotwali constabulary presumption successful Fatehpur territory connected the ground of a ailment of 1 Himanshu Dixit, the vice-president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, against 35 named and 20 chartless persons alleging that astatine an lawsuit 90 Hindus were converted to Christianity astatine the Evangelical Church of India a time before, which happened to beryllium "Maundy Thursday", a time of spiritual value for Christians.
It was alleged that Hindus were enactment nether undue influence, coercion, and lured done fraud and the committedness of casual money.
The cases against the peculiar offences nether Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 504 (intentional insult with an purpose to provoke breach of peace) and 386 (extortion) of the IPC. The accused were besides booked nether the anti-conversion law.
