Allahabad HC orders UP govt, father to pay Rs25 lakh to sisters confined after embracing Islam

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government and the father of two women who voluntarily embraced Islam to pay them a combined compensation of Rs 25 lakh for unlawfully confining them.

In its August 6 judgment, Justice Sandeep Jain also ordered that the two sisters be released and directed their father not to interfere with their personal liberty, religious choices or other decisions concerning their lives.

The sisters, aged 20 and 35, told the court that they had willingly converted from Hinduism to Islam and decided to marry according to their own wishes. They denied allegations that their conversion was the result of force, fraud or undue influence.

They alleged that their father confined them at their paternal home after they changed their religion.

After interacting with both women separately, Justice Jain said their responses were “spontaneous, coherent and unequivocal”. The court held that, as adults, the sisters had the legal capacity to make decisions about their faith, residence, relationships and other aspects of their lives.

The court said that once a person reaches adulthood, the Constitution protects her autonomy to make decisions concerning faith, belief, residence and association, subject only to restrictions imposed by law.

It further observed that the freedom of conscience guaranteed under Article 25 includes the right to adopt, renounce or change one’s religion. Such choices, the court said, are part of individual autonomy, dignity and personal liberty protected under Articles 25 and 21 of the Constitution.

The Uttar Pradesh government had opposed the habeas corpus petition, pointing to an FIR filed by the women’s father alleging forcible and fraudulent conversion. It argued that the conversion was part of a broader conspiracy with implications for the “sovereignty, integrity and unity of the nation”.

The High Court, however, held that even if questions arose over whether the conversion complied with the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, those issues could not justify keeping the women in confinement.

Justice Jain said the legality of the conversion and the legality of the women’s detention were “two distinct and independent issues”.

The court directed the father to return the sisters’ passports, educational certificates, conversion-related documents and other belongings within seven days.

It also held that the women were entitled to compensation for the “unlawful deprivation” of their fundamental rights, describing their confinement as an “exceptionally grave and egregious violation of constitutional rights”.