NIA Court Awards Life Imprisonment in Conversion Case | Uttar Pradesh | 12 Sep 2024

Recently, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Lucknow sentenced Islamic scholar and 11 others to life imprisonment in an illegal religious conversion case.

Charges and Convictions:
- The convicts were charged under Section 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), Section 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate a design to wage war), Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups based on religion), of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
Arrest and Allegations:
- Islamic Scholar was arrested in 2021 by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad from Meerut for allegedly running a nationwide syndicate for illegal religious conversion.
  - He was accused of promoting enmity, disturbing India’s sovereignty and integrity, and receiving funds from international organisations to facilitate conversions.

The NIA is the Central Counter-Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency of India mandated to investigate all the offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India. It includes:
- Friendly relations with foreign states.
- Against atomic and nuclear facilities.
- Smuggling of arms, drugs and fake Indian currency and infiltration from across the borders.
- The offences under the statutory laws enacted to implement international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its agencies and other international organisations.
It was constituted under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008.
The agency is empowered to deal with the investigation of terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states under written proclamation from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Headquarters: New Delhi

The law contains stringent provisions with regard to fraudulent or forced conversions.
It provides for 20 years’ imprisonment or life sentence if it was found that conversion had taken place under threat, promise of marriage or conspiracy. It was placed in the category of most serious crime under the Bill.
- The bill allows any person to register an First Information Report (FIR) in cases related to religious conversion, not only parents, victims, or siblings.
These cases would not be heard by any court below the sessions court. Bill has also made the crime non-bailable.
- Anyone wishing to convert of their own volition for the purpose of marriage must submit an application to the concerned district magistrate two months in advance.