SC grants bail to cleric accused of illegal conversion, says High Court should have shown courage

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to a Muslim cleric charged with converting a boy with a mental illness to Islam, observing that the offence of illegal conversion is not as serious as crimes like murder, dacoity or rape.

Syed Shad Kazmi, a cleric at a madrasa in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur, was booked for having coerced the boy, who had been abandoned by his parents, to convert to Islam. The cleric denied the allegation and said that on the contrary, he gave the boy shelter at his home on humanitarian grounds.

A case was filed against Kazmi under sections of the Indian Penal Code about intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace and criminal intimidation, and under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. He has been in custody for eleven months.

A Supreme Court bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan on Monday overturned an Allahabad High Court order, saying that there was no good reason for it to deny bail.

“We can understand that the trial court declined bail as trial courts seldom muster the courage of granting bail, be it any offence,” the court said. “However, at least, it was expected of the High Court to muster the courage and…

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