This is the second article in a series of reports on people who won their legal battles after being falsely charged under the anti-conversion laws brought in by BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Read the first article here.

New Delhi: Hari Shankar* couldn’t look past the absurdity of the matter: a retired Dalit construction labourer who could barely make ends meet was accused of casually offering thousands of rupees in cash to poor Hindus if they agreed to convert to Christianity.

“I live in a madaiya (basic hut). What can I lure people with? If I had Rs 30,000 to spare, wouldn’t I use it to change my own life first, before distributing it to others?” asked Shankar wryly.

Shankar lives in a tiny one-room shack in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. To make more living space, he has erected a tin-roof shed in the adjoining area. The shed does not have proper walls; plastic sheets and bedsheets form a makeshift enclosure. The floor of a part of the shed also serves as a kitchen.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

In 2021, 60-year-old Shankar was booked under The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 on the charge of converting poor Hindus in a locality in Azamgarh to Christianity by offering them money and promising to free them from the grip of ‘evil spirits’.

In addition to that, he faced the allegation of hurting religious sentiments by insulting Hindu goddesses and deities. The action against him was taken on the complaint of a right-wing activist linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

After a three-year-long legal battle, a court in Azamgarh in September 2024 acquitted him of the charge of unlawful conversion. The court found the charge to be dubious and said that the investigation by the police was riddled with illegalities and contradictions.

The judge, however, held Shankar guilty of hurting religious sentiments. Shankar was out on bail after having spent six months in prison when the 19-page verdict was delivered.

Considering his age and rural social background, the court decided against sending him back to prison and ordered his release on probation for a year.

Shankar’s conviction under Indian Penal Code Sections 298 (deliberately hurting someone’s religious feelings) and 504 (intentional insults that provoke others to break public peace) tainted his legal record in the autumn of his life but in the larger scheme of things, he stood vindicated. The main accusation of unlawful conversion was proven to be false.

“Truth prevailed. Talking about someone (Jesus Christ) does not amount to conversion. And the allegation of talking ill of Hindu deities was also baseless. All lies,” said Shankar.

Changing allegations

The criminal case against him was lodged on August 31, 2021, nine months after the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh armed itself with a stringent new law that made religious conversion a non-bailable offence inviting up to 10 years in prison if found to be effected for marriage or through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or other allegedly fraudulent means. The vagueness of the offence under the law blurred the lines between what could be deemed as lawful conversion and what was considered illegal. These features opened doors for........

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