The Allahabad High Court has held that distributing Bibles and preaching religion does not constitute a criminal offence under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, while criticising the state police for what it termed as overreach in handling such cases.
A division bench of Justice Abdul Moin and Justice Babita Rani made these observations on November 28 while hearing a petition filed by Ram Kewal Bharti and others seeking to quash an FIR registered against them at Police Station Dhammaur in Sultanpur district.
The FIR was lodged on August 17, 2025, by Manoj Kumar Singh, who alleged that the petitioners had organised a prayer meeting to convert Dalits and poor sections of society. According to the complaint, Singh found an LED screen installed in the petitioners’ verandah where they were preaching Christianity and distributing Bibles.
The case is among dozens of similar prosecutions in Uttar Pradesh this year. Between January and September 2024, local partners of international religious freedom organisations reported that more than 30 pastors were arrested on charges related to the anti-conversion law. In 2024, documented attacks on Christians in India reached 834 incidents, according to the United Christian Forum.
Research by independent media outlets like Article 14 has shown that most complaints under the law are filed not by alleged victims but by members of Hindu nationalist groups. A study of 101 FIRs registered under the Act found that more than half were lodged by third parties.
The court noted a significant procedural irregularity in the present case. While the FIR was registered on August 17, no victim had come forward at that time to allege conversion. The only items mentioned in the FIR were the recovery of an LED screen and Bibles. The petitioners were arrested on the same day the FIR was lodged.
“From perusal of the FIR it does not emerge that at the time of lodging of the FIR any person had come forward indicating that he had been converted to any other religion,” the bench observed in the order accessed by Christian Today.
The court pointed out that one alleged victim, Ram Dev, gave his initial statement on September 4, which contained no reference to conversion attempts. Only on October 25, more than two months after the FIR was registered, did he claim in a supplementary statement that he was given allurement to change his religion. Ram Dev’s wife, Nisha, also gave her statement on October 25, the court noted.
“Learned AGA has failed to indicate and obviously would not be able to indicate that distribution of Bible is a crime. Further, even preaching of a religion has not been prescribed as a crime anywhere,” the bench stated.
The court emphasised that under Section 3 of the 2021 Act, which prohibits conversion through misrepresentation, force, undue influence or allurement, the essential requirement is a specific person coming forward to allege that they are being converted.
In July 2024, the Uttar Pradesh government amended the anti-conversion law to make penalties more stringent. The maximum prison sentence was increased from ten years to life imprisonment. The amendment also removed the restriction that only victims or their blood relatives could file complaints, allowing anyone to lodge an FIR. Christian leaders had warned at the time that the changes would intensify persecution.
Since the amendment, arrests of Christians in the state have continued. In recent months, police in multiple districts have arrested Christians during prayer meetings in private homes, often seizing copies of the Bible as evidence. In several instances, complaints were filed by office bearers of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, organisations associated with Hindu nationalism.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s recent judgment in Rajendra Bihari Lal versus State of UP, the bench reiterated that since the 2021 Act is a special statute, authorities must strictly adhere to its provisions rather than acting on presumptions.
The court expressed concern over the immediate arrest of the petitioners. “It is prima facie apparent that the authorities have bent themselves backward in order to arrest the petitioner(s) even though it is not known as to how the complainant had got information about any offence,” the bench remarked.
The bench issued notice to complainant Manoj Kumar Singh, directing him to file a counter affidavit explaining several aspects of his conduct. The court order, accessed by Christian Today, asked how he obtained information about the alleged offence, how he mobilised people to accompany him to the accused’s residence, and what authority he had to enter their property.
The court also questioned the validity of charges under Section 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and Section 351(3) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the petitioners, suggesting they may have been defending their property from intrusion.
In October 2025, the Supreme Court quashed criminal cases against 90 Christians in Uttar Pradesh filed under the anti-conversion law, calling the prosecutions a “travesty of justice”. The court found procedural lapses, absence of credible evidence and repeated use of the same allegations across multiple complaints. Justice Pardiwala observed that many complaints lacked direct testimony from victims and were instead filed by third parties long after alleged incidents.
The Allahabad High Court granted four weeks to the authorities and the complainant to file their counter affidavits, with the petitioners having two weeks thereafter to file replies. The matter has been listed for fresh hearing after the expiry of this period.
Christians make up less than 0.2 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s population. Twelve of India’s 28 states have enacted anti-conversion laws. Rights organisations have documented that such laws, while ostensibly aimed at preventing forced conversions, are disproportionately used to target Christians and other religious minorities.
