New Delhi, Oct 17 (UNI) The Supreme Court today quashed multiple FIRs and related criminal proceedings filed under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, against the Vice Chancellor and several officials of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), Prayagraj.
The case concerned allegations of mass religious conversions to Christianity.
A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra passed the order while hearing a batch of petitions filed by SHUATS Vice Chancellor Dr Rajendra Bihari Lal, Director Vinod Bihari Lal, and other officials.
The petitions challenged multiple FIRs lodged across Uttar Pradesh and sought their consolidation or quashing.
The Supreme Court held that the FIR lodged in Fatehpur district suffered from a serious legal defect, as it had been registered by a person not legally competent to do so under the UP Conversion Act.
The court, therefore, quashed the FIR and all proceedings arising from it.
Similarly, other FIR Nos. 55/2023 and 60/2023, both filed at Kotwali Police Station, were also quashed as the Court found them to be repetitive and hit by the principle laid down in T.T. Antony v. State of Kerala, which bars multiple FIRs over the same offence.
The bench further observed that FIR No. 54/2023 and related proceedings did not inspire confidence about the fairness of the investigation and therefore deserved to be set aside.
The court also found fault with the Allahabad High Court’s refusal to quash FIR No. 538/2023, noting that no offence under the Conversion Act was taken.
However, the court allowed proceedings under certain sections of the IPC, such as 307, 386, and 504, to continue for further consideration.
The court reaffirmed that a writ petition under Article 32 seeking quashing of FIRs is maintainable in exceptional cases where fundamental rights are affected.
It continued interim protection from arrest for the petitioners until final disposal of the remaining matters.
The FIRs had invoked offences under Sections 153A, 506, 420, 467, 468, and 471 of the IPC and Sections 3 and 5(1) of the UP Conversion Act. The Supreme Court had earlier granted interim relief to SHUATS officials in December last year.
During earlier hearings, the petitioners claimed that they were being targeted and harassed by the state government and that the FIRs were false, frivolous, and aimed at obstructing the university’s work.
They also alleged that the multiple FIRs formed part of a “coordinated campaign” to violate their fundamental rights under Articles 25, 29, and 30 of the Constitution.
On the other hand, Attorney General R. Venkataramani, assisting the court, argued that the FIRs disclosed cognisable offences and that evidence, including Aadhaar printing machines and fake ID cards, had been seized from the university premises.
However, he cautioned that prosecution under the Act must be fair and that liberty cannot be taken for granted.
The court noted that the broader constitutional challenge to the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, remains pending before it in petitions filed by Citizens for Justice and Peace and Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind.
