UP court acquits two men in false religious conversion case, orders action against police

A court in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district recently ordered action against police officials for false implication of two men in a case of forcibly converting people to Christianity..Judge Gyanendra Tripathi acquitted the accused and said the case was worrisome for a civilised society as anyone can initiate criminal action against a person to satisfy his vested interests. The Court found the police to have acted under pressure of the complainant who only wanted publicity "It is clear that the police acted under pressure on the complaints made by persons like the plaintiff for their desire for publicity and took action in a futile attempt to give legal form to a baseless, fabricated and imaginary story which wasted valuable time, labour and money of not only the police but also the court," the judge said..The Court opined that the real culprits were the complainant, witnesses, and policemen including the Station in-charge and Investigating Officer as well the officer who approved the chargesheet. Their collective efforts had caused irreparable loss to the two accused, the Court said as it order action against them."The Senior Superintendent of Police, Bareilly, to take appropriate legal action against the complainant, Himanshu Patel, as well as key witnesses Arvind Kumar, Devendra Singh, and Ravindra Kumar, along with the former Police Station Incharge, the investigating officer, and the jurisdictional officer who approved the charge sheet"..The case dates back to May 29, 2022 when Himanshu Patel, a resident of Sakatpur village in Bareilly and district president of the Hindu Jagran Manch, had accused Abhishek Gupta, a Gorakhpur resident and former employee of Rohilkhand Medical College, of leading a conversion program with a team of eight people in Bichpuri village.Gupta, who had been working in the CT Department of the college since 2007, lost his job and was arrested under the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Later, Kundal Lal, a resident of Bichpuri Nai Basti, was also arrested..While acquitting both men, the court said that the police had failed to produce any witnesses or persons who allegedly had been coerced to convert by the accused."In the admittedly presented case, accused Abhishek Gupta not only lost his job but also suffered financial and social loss. Accused Kundan Lal was not even reported to be present at the scene of crime by any witness, he was not wanted either, yet he was allegedly arrested on the alleged disclosure of accused Abhishek Gupta," the court found..[Read Order]