HC grants bail to 4 accused in first case registered in Gujarat under new anti-conversion law
The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday granted bail as interim relief to all four people currently in jail in the first case filed in the state under an amended Act that penalizes conversion by means of marriage, forcibly or fraudulently. The case involving an inter-religious couple was filed in Vadodara under the amended Gujarat Religious Freedom Act and the interim relief granted by the court to four, including the main accused, will be pending disposal of a petition filed by them seeking their quashing. was demanded. FIR against him
Hearing a petition seeking quashing of the FIR filed jointly by the accused persons and the complainant – the wife of the main accused – Justice Ilesh J Vora ordered extension on bail as an interim measure to all the four accused, which Currently in jail.
The petitioners have argued that there was no communal angle in the entire episode and that they have settled the dispute which led to the filing of the complaint.
His lawyer Hitesh Gupta said that the HC granted protection from arrest to another accused and added that the police can continue their investigation in the case, but they cannot file a charge sheet against the accused (a woman). .
The accused providing protection from arrest has been charged with being part of a conspiracy to aid the couple’s marriage and advising them to abort their child.
“For the accused persons who are still in jail, the court ordered their release on bail as an interim measure, till the final decision is taken on their plea for quashing of the petition,” Gupta said.
Of the total eight named in the FIR, three other accused were granted bail by the trial court last month.
The wife of prime accused Sameer Qureshi, in her petition, had told the court that her complaint before the Gotri police in Vadodara was on a “small and trivial domestic matrimonial issue”, which has been resolved amicably.
Qureshi’s parents, sisters, uncles, cousins and a priest who carried out the marriage at the center of the entire episode were among the eight accused named in the FIR lodged in Vadodara under the Act, which was launched on June 15. had come into force.
The complainant woman had told the court that the angle of “love jihad” was added in the FIR by “certain religious political groups” to give “communalism” to the issue. She had termed the police action as “communally biased” and said that if her plea (to quash the FIR) was not accepted, it would result in derailment of her marital relations with her husband.
His counsel had told the HC that the parties concerned had settled the dispute amicably and prayed for quashing of the FIR.
While granting interim relief to the petitioners on Wednesday, the HC said it would decide on their plea for quashing of the FIR, after ensuring that their settlement was genuine and the married couple has been together for a certain period.
All the eight persons, including the complainant, had approached the High Court seeking quashing of the first FIR lodged in Vadodara, two days after the Act was notified.
In addition to various sections of the Act, the accused were also booked under sections of the IPC relating to domestic violence – including abortion of a child – as well as provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act) – (main The complainant is a Dalit). The government had opposed the petition saying that the petitioner (complainant woman) was contradicting her own statement.
The petitioner and her husband had known each other in 2019 and developed an intimate relationship after which they got married under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and their families knew each other, their religious identity, social status and other details. were, the couple said in the petition before the court.
They then got married on February 16, 2021 as per Muslim customs and executed a joint affidavit declaring the facts, and registered their marriage under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, as per the petition.
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