Large Scale Conversion With Objective Of Converting India To Islamic State: Allahabad High Court

Allahabad High Court Rejects Bail Applications In Large-Scale Illegal Conversion Case

In a major development with far reaching consequences, we see that none other than the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court which is the biggest High Court in not only just India, in not only just Asia, in not only just Asia and Africa, in not only just few continents but in all the continents all over the world which has just no parallel anywhere in the world most astonishingly even after the partition of Uttar Pradesh into Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on November 9, 2000 in a most latest judgment titled Kunal Ashok Chaudhari @ Atif v. State of UP in Criminal Appeal No. – 4008 of 2024 that was reserved initially on 27.10.2026 and then finally pronounced on 4.11.2026 has rejected the bail applications of 8 convicts who were booked in an illegal conversion case after noting that they had engaged in large-scale conversion and were also allegedly receiving huge funding also for this reprehensible purpose both from within and outside the country.

Let me be very frank and forthright in conceding in simple and straightforward language: Biggest culprits are not these 8 convicts who have been booked in this illegal conversion case rather it is Centre itself and the concerned State governments where such cases occur as conversion is still not completely banned in many States and so also not nationally even though my very best friend Sageer Khan in 1993 batted for conversion to be not only just completely banned but also most strictly punished so that no one ever dares to indulge in conversion without any fear of being punished!

Personal Reflections On Religious Conversion: The Story Of Sageer Khan

It was my very best friend Sageer Khan who first of all ingrained in me most deeply in Mackronia locality in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh way back in 1993 that conversion is a crime that is worst than all the other crimes in this world and when I wanted to myself convert and become a Muslim in 1994 deeply influenced by what version he gave to me of Islam and even once expressed my desire to him to become Muslim and had even thought my new name as Sher Khan but Sageer Khan started crying most astoundingly and caught my hand and placed it on top of his head and said that say to me on oath that you shall never shun Hinduism nor Mahadev Baba whom you have worshipped till date just like I Sageer Khan will never shun Islam nor Allah nor will you enter mosque nor see towards mosque which I had to give and said that religions are just different paths to reach the same goal just like mountaineer chooses different paths to reach the same goalpost at top of a mountain.

Sageer further added that, “We should never shun the religion in which God whom you call Mahadev and I call Allah ensured that we took birth in till we stay alive and are non-negotiable just like parents and nation”! I nodded my head because I held him in highest esteem as he held my hands most tightly when I needed it the most!

Sageer Khan’s Views On Religious Conversion, History And National Unity

Sageer Khan further also said that, “It is better to burn yourself alive than convert like Rani Padmini did as Alauddin Khilji wanted her to convert and so also Sikh Gurus Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur preferred to die rather than convert as conversion is worst sin on earth because conversion is most favourite pet weapon of USA and UK who add united before their name just like UN who too add united before their name but always favour division of other countries especially India and who hate Hindus most as maximum freedom fighters in India were Hindus and among Hindus hate Sikhs most as maximum freedom fighters of Hindus were Sikhs like Sardar Bhagat Singh and so coined Khalistan and partitioned Punjab maximum giving the people of Punjab deepest scar and maximum Sikhs killed due to partition and maximum Sikhs killed in Hindustan even after independence in name of Khalistan sponsored by USA and UK and among Muslims hate Shias most as maximum freedom fighters of Muslims were Shias like Mohammad Ali Jinnah and so coined Pakistan and maximum Shias killed in Pakistan not safe even in mosques and are safest in Hindustan and Hindus are most tolerant in the world and USA and UK trust Sunnis most but mark my words Inshallah it is only and only Sunni Muslims who will definitely combat, control, conquer and so also completely crush USA and UK who are root cause of all pains, problems, partitions and parents of all conversions and converters and so also of all terrorists, rioters who encourage “divide and rule” policy and then there will definitely be peace, progress and prosperity all over the world and India will again become united as it stood prior to partition masterminded by USA and UK who encouraged conversions most which is the root cause of creation of Pakistan and are still encouraging conversion maximum and I fail to comprehend that why Centre never steps in and bans conversion and punish it most stringently which is most cherished weapon of USA and UK and countries aligned with USA and UK to ensure more and more partition of India as they are not happy with partition of India in 1947 and are parents of China, Pakistan and Israel among other countries and so also ban polygamy for all which is root cause of conversion and over population in India and Pakistan would never have come into being if Hindus had been in majority in Pakistan and Bangladesh which USA and UK knew and so encouraged more and more conversion culminating in partition of India way back in 1947 and even now in 1994 we see conversion has not been banned nationally. It is high time that we get rid of the absurd notion that conversion cannot conquer country not learning even after partition of India on ground of religion in 1947.”

National Conversion Law And The Demand For Uniform Civil Code

Now we are in 2026 and we still see that conversion has not been banned nationally because of lack of political will to take any bold decision on this just like we see in case of implementation of uniform civil code which Apex Court keeps directing time and again so many times yet not even polygamy abolished for all most disgracefully by Centre which shows political timidity by all political parties who have ruled in Centre including the present dispensation led by PM Narendra Modi of BJP since last more than 12 years!

Proposed Punishment For Unlawful And Forced Religious Conversion

Sageer Khan also said that, “Centre must ban conversion completely and those who encourage conversion without using any force must be punished for 10 years to 20 years in prison and those who forcibly convert must be punished only and only by shooting them in public or at least hanging them in public and should not allow any of his/her relatives who engage in forced conversions to attend his/her last rites and should not be given proper burial so that no one dares to again ever indulge in forcible conversion.”

Allahabad High Court Judgment: Background And Legal Proceedings

At the very outset, this recent judgment authored by a Division Bench of Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court comprising of Hon’ble Mr Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Hon’ble Mr Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra sets the ball in motion by first and foremost putting forth precisely in para 2 that,

“Instant criminal appeal has been preferred by the accused convicts feeling aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 11/09/2024 passed by learned Special Judge, NIA, UP, Lucknow in Sessions Trial No.1064 of 2022 State of U.P. versus Mohd. Kaleem Siddiqui; Sessions Trial No.296 of 2022 State of U.P. versus Prashad Rameshwar Kawre alias Adam and 3 others ; Sessions Trial No. 2740 of 2022 State of UP versus Sallahuddin Jainuddin Sheikh and 5 others; Sessions Trial No.1063 of 2022 State of UP versus Abdullah Umar, arising out of Case Crime No.09 of 2021, Police Station ATS, Gomtinagar, District Lucknow. As these four Sessions Trials arose out of the same offense Case Crime No.09 of 2021, under section 120B, 153A, 153B, 295A, 417, 298, 121A, 123 IPC and Section 3/5/8 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 and Section 11/35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, Police Station – ATS Gomtinagar, District – Lucknow, all four Sessions Trials were connected together by learned trial court and decided by a common judgment. Sixteen criminal appeals were preferred by convicts/appellants against the judgment and order of trial court under Section 21-A of the N.I.A. Act read with Section 374 Cr.P.C. and connected by this Court. Separate bail applications were filed in respective criminal appeals by the accused convicts persons. These bail applications are being decided by this common order.”

Important Case Particulars

Division Bench Observations on the Conviction and Sentencing of the Appellants

To put things in perspective, the Division Bench envisages in para 3 that,

“By the impugned judgment, learned trial court has convicted the appellants Abdullah Umar and Mohd. Umar Gautam for charges under Sections 417, 153A, 153B, 295A, 298, 120B, 120A and 123 IPC and Section 3/5/8 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 and Section 35 of FCRA, 2010; and sentenced to imprisonment of life as maximum sentence. Appellants Mannu Yadav, Mohd. Saleem, Kunal Ashok Chaudhari alias Atif and Rahul Bhola for charge under Sections 417, 153A, 153B, 295A, 298, 120B IPC and Section 3/5/8 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 and sentenced them to 10 years’ imprisonment as maximum sentence. The Appellants, Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, Mufti Qazi Jhangeer Qasmi, Kauser Alam, Prasad Rameshwar Kawre alias Adam, Dheeraj Govindrao Jagtap, Bhoopriya Bando @ Arslan Mustafa, Dr. Faraz Babullah Singh, Sarfaraz Ali Jafri, Sallahuddin Jainuddin Sheikh Irfan Shaikh @ Irfan Sheikh for charge under sections 417, 153A, 153B, 295A, 298, 120B 121A, 123 IPC and Section 3/5/8 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 and sentencing for imprisonment for life as the maximum sentence.”

Background of the Case and the Initial FIR

As it turned out, the Division Bench then enunciates in para 4 stating that,

“Sri Purnendu Chakraborty, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant – Kunal Ashok Chaudhari @ Atif submitted that the present case initiated with lodging of the FIR by Sub Inspector, ATS, Vinod Kumar on 20.06.2021 at 11:35 hours against only two named accused, Mohd. Umar Gautam and Mufti Qazi Jhangeer Qasmi and one person by as Central Chairman, IDC, under Sections 420, 120B, 153A, 153B, 295A, 511 IPC and Section 3/5/8 of the of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 (hereinafter referred as ‘the act’) with allegation that some anti-social and anti-national organizations are destabilizing the demography of the country by indulging in large scale conversion on instructions of some religious organizations/syndicate/foreign elements and funding obtained from them due to which the fraternity of the country is being disturbed. They are running a campaign with mala fide design targeting the gullible persons, deaf and dumb women, children, people of SC/ST and people of weaker sections for their conversion into Islam. After getting information from various sources and contents of the FIR lodged vide Case Crime No.473 of 2021, under Sections 419, 420, 295A, 505 and 506 IPC and an interrogation of suspects, these facts surfaced that Mohd. Umar Gautam, son of Dhanraj Singh Gautam, a resident of Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, who is himself a convertee Muslim from Hinduism. He is undertaking a large scale mass conversion of non-Muslim deaf and dump, people, women, children and people of weaker sections. It become known that they have converted around 1000 persons from Hindu religion to Islam and they have also conducted interfaith marriage of these people. Umar and his associates have constituted an organization, namely, National Dawah Center in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, with an objective to convert non-Muslims into Muslim religion. Huge funding has been credited to the bank accounts of this center from various sources to use the money for religious conversion.”

Allegations of Unlawful Religious Conversion and Associated Activities

While elaborating further on the facts of the case, the Division Bench observes in para 5 that,

“It is also stated in the FIR that the other accused Mufti Qazi Jhangeer Qasmi, a resident of New Delhi, is associate of Umar Gautam in this nefarious design of mass conversion and for that purpose, he has been issuing religious conversion certificates & marriage certificates in unlawful manner. These people are targeting incumbents of Noida Deaf Society Sector-117, Gautam Budh Nagar, which is a residential school of deaf and dump and they have converted many students of these schools into Islam against mandate of law by offering various allurements. The parents of a deaf and dump student namely, Aditya Gupta, lodged an FIR regarding missing of their son, Aditya Gupta, vide Case Crime No. 247 of 2021, under Section 364 IPC with allegation that the religion of his son was converted and he has been detained in some south east state.”

Investigation, Emergence of Other Accused and Filing of Chargesheet

Further, the Division Bench then states in para 6 that,

“He next submitted that during course of investigation, the name of the other appellants surfaced and they were chargesheeted for alleged offenses by the Investigating Officer. Learned trial court convicted and sentenced the appellants in aforesaid manner.”

Criminal Appeals Filed Against the Trial Court Judgment

Needless to say, the Division Bench then states in para 7 that,

“Feeling aggrieved by the judgment and order of the learned trial court, the convicts have filed separate criminal appeals against impugned judgment and order which is under challenged.”

Division Bench Observations on Evidence, Funding and Criminal Conspiracy

Be it noted, the Division Bench notes in para 38 that,

“A speech of Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui on YouTube channel was retrieved by the Investigating Officer in which he has made an appeal to take back region of Hindustan and make it an Islamic state. He is founder of Jamiat Imam Ali which has received huge amount of donation in different accounts. The main accused Mohd. Umar Gautam was running Islamic Dawah Centre (IDC) in which the evidence of huge funding from the different sources. He has organized annual function known as Annual Revert Get together of such converted person. A video/photo collected from him and co-accused mobile phone data has proved his guilt. His son Abdullah Umar received Rs.28 lakhs in his ICICI bank account, out of which Rs.3 lakh 8 thousand were received from UK. A sum of Rs.6000 has been transferred by him to account of Shahabuddin to pay this to a converted Muslim Neenu Kanwar for the purposes of religious conversion. Adopting, engaging in large scale conversion by means of allurement, threat, deceit, wrongful confinement and for that purpose receiving huge funding from within and outside the country with objective of converting India from secular to Islamic state. His innocence a conspiracy against government of the country. And it cannot be said that the case of the appellants does not come within the purview of Section 121- A IPC. Section covers conspiracy to overawe the Central or State Government by means of criminal force or the show of criminal force and for this actual use of force is not necessary.”

Consideration of Evidence and Period of Imprisonment

It is also worth noting that the Bench notes in para 40 that,

“So far as we have gone through the material on record in the light of submissions made by learned counsel for the appellants and we have also perused the judgment under appeal and have also taken into consideration the fact that the appellants have undergone more than 4 years 6 months imprisonment till date during trial and after conviction in jail custody.”

The Division Bench’s Key Findings on Bail Applications

Most significantly and most forthrightly, the Division Bench encapsulates in para 41 what constitutes the cornerstone of this notable judgment postulating precisely that, “The appellants, namely, Mohd. Saleem, Rahul Bhola @ Rahul Ahmad, Mannu Yadav and Kunal Ashok Chaudhari @ Atif, have not been convicted for charge under Section 121A IPC. On perusal of seriousness of allegations and supporting evidence adduced during trial and inference of learned trial court thereon, we find that we are of the considered opinion that the charges against the appellants, namely, (1) Mohd. Umar Gautam, (2) Mufti Qazi Jhangeer Qasmi, (3) Sallahuddin Jainuddin Sheikh, (4) Prasad Rameshwar Kawre @ Adam, (5) Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, (6) Irfan Shaikh @ Irfan Shaikh, (7) Kauser Alam and (8) Dr. Faraz Babullah Shah are of very serious in nature. Allegations and nature of evidence in respect of offences in question is comparatively on lighter side in respect of other accused persons, who are said to be their associates and were connected with them. Therefore, we do not find any plausible reason to enlarge them on bail at post conviction stage in the present criminal appeal.”

Eight Appellants Found Deserving of Bail

As a corollary, the Division Bench then propounds in para 42 holding that, “As a result, appellants, namely, (1) Mannu Yadav, (2) Abdullah Umar, (3) Dheeraj Govindrao Jagtap, (4) Bhoopriya Bando @ Arslan Mustafa, (5) Sarfaraz Ali Jafri, (6) Mohd. Saleem, (7) Kunal Ashok Chaudhari @ Atif and (8 ) Rahul Bhola deserve to be released on bail in the light of totality of facts and circumstances of the case, the role attributed to them, the evidence regarding overact committed by them in the alleged offences.”

Bail Applications of Eight Other Appellants Rejected

It would be worthwhile to note that the Division Bench notes in para 43 that, “Consequently, bail applications of appellants, namely, (1) Mohd. Umar Gautam, (2) Mufti Qazi Jhangeer Qasmi, (3) Sallahuddin Jainuddin Sheikh, (4) Prasad Rameshwar Kawre @ Adam, (5) Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, (6) Irfan Shaikh @ Irfan Shaikh (7) Kauser Alam, (8) Dr. Faraz Babullah Shah are hereby rejected.”

Conditions Imposed for Grant of Bail

It merits noting that the Division Bench stipulates in para 44 directing and holding that, “Let the appellants, namely, (1) Mannu Yadav, (2) Abdullah Umar, (3) Dheeraj Govindrao Jagtap, (4) Bhoopriya Bando @ Arslan Mustafa, (5) Sarfaraz Ali Jafri, (6) Mohd. Saleem, (7) Kunal Ashok Chaudhari @ Atif and (8) Rahul Bhola convicted in the aforesaid sessions trials be released on bail on their furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with following conditions:

1. They will deposite their passports, if issued and not earlier deposited, before the trial court;
2. They will cooperate in the hearing of the appeal and will not seek adjournment on insufficient grounds.
3. they will not leave the country without permission of this Court.
4. they will not indulge in similar criminal activities during the period they remain on bail in their respective criminal appeals.”

Cancellation of Bail in Case of Breach of Conditions

Adding more to it, the Division Bench further stipulates in para 45 directing and holding that, “In case of breach of any of the conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to move cancellation of bail.”

Condition Regarding Deposit of 50% Fine

While adding further a caveat, the Division Bench then stipulates in para 46 directing and holding that, “As regards fine, out of total fine imposed by the learned trial court, 50% fine shall be deposited by the appellants, who are directed to be released on bail within two months of their release from jail pursuant to the present bail order and remaining 50% fine shall remain stayed. If 50% fine is not deposited within the aforesaid stipulated period, the bail granted to the appellants shall stand cancelled and they shall be arrested and sent to jail to serve out the sentence.”

Appeal Listed for Hearing in January 2027

Finally, the Division Bench then concludes aptly by directing and holding in para 50 that, “List the appeal for hearing in the first week of January, 2027.”

Concluding Observations on Mass Conversions and Government Responsibility

In a nutshell, there can be just no gainsaying that those who indulge in mass conversions are not the real culprits but are very small foot soldiers. It is the Centre and the concerned State Governments who don’t bother to enact most strictest laws to check huge conversions and don’t take adequate steps to ensure that no one can dare take mass conversions for granted and yet escape very lightly who are really most culpable for such mass conversions not only just gaining currency only but also for becoming deeply embedded spreading its roots most deeply inside our society all across the nation which is definitely most dangerous as we saw in 1947 also!

My very best friend Sageer Khan was most miffed at Centre not enacting most strictest laws all across the nation to ensure that no one dare take mass conversion or forced conversion or conversion of any kind for granted any longer now!

One still fervently hope that Centre will at least now act most promptly in this regard and take the requisite action in this regard as it brooks no more delay any longer now!

Of course, the earlier this is done, the better it shall be for preservation of our national interests which definitely must be paramount always!

No denying or disputing it!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col (Retd) BPS Sirohi, A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera, Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

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