The Supreme Court granted bail to an individual who, alongside Rajendra Bihari Lal, the vice chancellor of Uttar Pradesh’s Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), was under investigation in a criminal case related to alleged illegal religious conversions.
A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra determined the bail bond amount for the accused, Ram Sewak, a resident of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, ensuring it did not exceed Rs 25,000.
The apex court stated that the other conditions of bail would be determined by the trial court.
“We direct that the petitioner shall be released on bail in connection with … lodged at Police Station Nawabganj, District Ganganagar (Commissionerate Prayagraj), Uttar Pradesh subject to such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the Trial Judge,” the bench stated.
“However, the quantum of the bail bond to be fixed shall not be in excess of Rs 25,000,” it added.
On April 1, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Rajendra Bihari Lal in two criminal cases, including offences related to alleged illegal religious conversions.
Furthermore, the court also issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government regarding Ram Sewak’s plea for quashing the case against him.
The cases involving Lal and Ram Sewak include offences under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 504 (intentional insult with an aim to provoke breach of peace), and 386 (extortion) of the IPC. They were also charged under certain provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had previously informed the Supreme Court that Lal and other accused were the “main perpetrators” of a mass religious conversion program funded from approximately 20 countries.
The police claimed Lal, along with other accused, had a criminal record with Lal being involved in 38 cases of various nature, including cheating and murder, registered across the state over the last two decades.
It further alleged that about 90 Hindus congregated at the Evangelical Church of India in Hariharganj, Fatehpur, with the intention of converting to Christianity and were subjected to undue influence, coercion, and fraudulent inducement promising easy money.