3 weeks ago
HC Orders Father, UP Govt to Pay Rs 25 Lakh
Two grown-up sisters in India decided to change their religion and become Muslims.
They said they did this because they truly believed and felt peaceful.
Their father did not agree and kept them locked in their home.
The sisters asked a big court called the Allahabad High Court for help.
The court talked to the sisters and believed they made their choice freely.
The court said grown-up people can choose their own religion, and nobody else can decide for them.
It said the father and the state government were wrong to keep them locked up.
The court told them to pay the sisters 25 lakh rupees as a sorry.
When you become an adult, you get to make your own big life choices.
The Allahabad High Court ordered a father and the Uttar Pradesh government to jointly pay Rs 25 lakh compensation for illegally confining two adult sisters.
The sisters, Diya Bhatia @ Zoya Diya Bhatia (20) and Anshu Bhatia @ Amina Anshu Bhatia (35), said they voluntarily converted to Islam in 2020 and 2021.
Justice Sandeep Jain upheld the women's constitutional autonomy over faith, residence, and personal liberty under Articles 21 and 25 of the Constitution.
The court rebuked the state for lending 'tacit support' to the detention under the cover of criminal proceedings instead of securing the sisters' release.
The father and state are jointly and severally liable to pay the compensation, to be equally divided between the sisters within eight weeks; the FIR investigation will continue.
- Who
- Two adult sisters, Diya Bhatia @ Zoya Diya Bhatia (20) and Anshu Bhatia @ Amina Anshu Bhatia (35), their father, the Uttar Pradesh government, and the Allahabad High Court (Justice Sandeep Jain).
- What
- The court ordered Rs 25 lakh compensation for the sisters' illegal confinement after their voluntary conversion to Islam.
- Where
- Allahabad High Court, Uttar Pradesh.
- When
- Order dated August 6, per a 22-page ruling.
- Why
- The sisters' fundamental rights to religious freedom and personal liberty were violated by illegal detention at their parental home.
Individual Liberty View
State Security View
Nature of the Conversion
Individual Liberty View
The sisters said they converted voluntarily out of faith, conscience, mental peace, and spiritual solace, and denied force, fraud, coercion, or inducement.
State Security View
The father's FIR alleged forcible and deceitful conversion from Hinduism to Islam, with the state arguing it was part of an organized conspiracy.
Role of the Criminal Investigation
Individual Liberty View
The court said the investigation could not justify illegal confinement and that the state government lent tacit support to the deprivation of the women's rights.
State Security View
The Uttar Pradesh government argued that releasing the women could prejudice the ongoing investigation into alleged threats to the sovereignty, integrity, and unity of the nation.
Key facts
- Court
- Allahabad High Court
- Judge
- Justice Sandeep Jain
- Compensation
- Rs 25 lakh, equally divided between the two sisters
- Sisters
- Diya Bhatia @ Zoya Diya Bhatia (20), Anshu Bhatia @ Amina Anshu Bhatia (35)
- Conversions
- Anshu in 2020, Diya in 2021; described as voluntary
- Order Date
- August 6 (22-page order)
- Legal Basis
- Articles 21 and 25 of the Constitution
- FIR Laws
- Section 87 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; Sections 3/5(1) and 5(2) of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021
Quotes
Justice Sandeep Jain
Judge of the Allahabad High Court
“Once an individual attains majority, the Constitution recognises her autonomy to take decisions relating to faith, belief, residence, association and every other facet of personal liberty, subject only to restrictions sanctioned by law”
rediff.com
“Any restraint upon the movement or liberty of such person, except lawful authority, would constitute illegal confinement and amount to a direct infringement of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution”
rediff.com
Sources
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