Supreme Court quashes multiple FIRs under UP Act on religious conversion, says law not tool to harass innocent

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday quashed multiple FIRs registered at Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh against Vice Chancellor of a university and its officials over alleged offence of "mass religious conversions" of Hindus into Christianity, saying that criminal law cannot be a tool to harass innocent citizens.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra quashed as many as five FIRs against several persons including Rajendra Bihari Lal, vice chancellor of Uttar Pradesh's Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS).

The cases were initiated for various offences including under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.

Justice Pardiwala, who authored a 158-page judgement, found that the FIRs were vitiated by legal infirmities, procedural lapses, and lack of credible material, and ruled that continuing such prosecutions would amount to a "travesty of justice".

The court found that the person who filed the complaint against Lal was not competent to file such a complaint.

Under Section 4 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, no stranger or third party can file a complaint.

Though this restriction was removed by a 2024 amendment, making any person competent to file a complaint, however, the court held that the 2024 amendment would not be applicable in this case.

The court, however, noted that some of the offences alleged in the case under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) required further investigation.

"These charges have not been closed. However, interim protection earlier given to Lal from arrest will continue," the bench said.

SHUATS, earlier known as Allahabad Agricultural University, is one of the prominent varsities in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.