Courts in Uttarakhand have acquitted all defendants in the few anti-conversion cases that have reached full trial, raising questions about how the law is being applied.
According to a recent media investigation, five cases registered under Uttarakhand’s anti-conversion law were taken through complete trials. In every case, judges ruled that the evidence presented was insufficient, leading to full acquittals.
The findings were published by The Indian Express, in which the report noted a growing gap between the number of arrests made under the law and the lack of successful convictions in court.
Uttarakhand’s Freedom of Religion Act was introduced in 2018 to prevent what it describes as “forced religious conversions”. It was later strengthened through amendments in 2022 and again in 2025. These changes increased prison sentences from a maximum of three years to up to 10 years, and in extreme cases, 20 years or life imprisonment.
The Act bans religious conversion carried out through force, deception, pressure, inducement, fraud or marriage.
Police records show that since 2018, at least 62 cases have been registered under the law across Uttarakhand’s 13 districts. However, court documents reveal that by September 2025, only five cases had reached the stage of full trial.
All five ended in acquittal. At least seven additional cases were dismissed before trial, often because complainants withdrew their statements, evidence could not be confirmed, or prosecutors failed to prove coercion or inducement. In many cases, courts granted bail after noting contradictions in witness statements or procedural errors.
Two of the five completed trials were based on complaints filed by third parties rather than by individuals who claimed they had been forced to convert.
One such case, filed in February 2021 in Tehri Garhwal district, accused a man of promoting Christianity and criticising Hinduism and the caste system through videos shared on Facebook. The court later ruled that the allegations were not supported by evidence.
Another case involved a Christian pastor and his wife in the town of Ramnagar in Nainital district. A Hindu organisation accused them of carrying out mass conversions in October 2021. Members of the group reportedly vandalised the pastor’s home and disrupted a Christian gathering. The court later dismissed the case, citing a lack of credible proof.
Despite the lack of convictions, the number of cases filed under the Act has continued to rise, particularly after the 2022 amendment, according to The Indian Express.
Uttarakhand is among at least 12 Indian states that have enacted strict anti-conversion laws. Christian leaders and rights groups have repeatedly expressed concern that such laws are being used to harass religious minorities rather than to address genuine cases of coercion.
Adapted from ICC.
