Prayagraj: Denying bail to a Muslim cleric , accused of converting a woman to Islam, the Allahabad High Court observed that any religious leader—Father, Maulvi, Maulana, or Karmkandi—converting any person by force, misrepresentation, fraud, undue influence, coercion or allurement, would be liable under UP Anti-Conversion Act . The applicant accused Maulana Mohammad Shan e Alam was accused of forcibly converting a woman to Islam and of performing her nikah with a Muslim man. A criminal case under section 3/5 (1) of UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 was registered against him at Ankur Vihar police station in Ghaziabad district.
Rejecting the cleric’s bail application, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal took note of the statement of the girl/informant recorded under section 164 criminal procedure code (CrPC), wherein she had categorically submitted that she was forced to accept Islam and nikah was performed. The court said the applicant-accused being the ‘Religion Convertor’ as defined under Section 2(i) of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, would be liable under the 2021 Act. “In the instant case, the applicant, who comes under the definition of “Religion Convertor”, as defined in Section 2(i) of Act, 2021 had got the nikah ceremony of the informant performed with accused Amaan.
The necessary declaration has to be obtained before conversion given in section 8 of Act, 2021 was not obtained from the district magist.