By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, Aug 14, 2023: The Supreme Court of India on August 14 refused to stay the anticipatory bail granted by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh to a Catholic bishop and a nun, accused of religious conversion.
The apex court was hearing a petition from the Madhya Pradesh government and the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) challenging the anticipatory bail to Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur and Sister Liji Joseph.
The Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on June 22 granted the bail to the prelate and the member of the Congregation of Mother Carmel. The two were booked for the religious conversion of children in a shelter home.
A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra also declined to stay the observations in the high court order, although it issued notice in the appeals, reports barandbench.com
“We issue notices to be served on respondents. The area where the High Court seems to have missed the issue is the non-consideration of Section 75 (of the Juvenile Justice Act, providing for punishment for cruelty to children). List after 2 weeks. We cannot stay the anticipatory bail and we cannot stay the observations,” the apex court said.
The hearing also saw the bench question whether the NCPCR could have filed the case against the archbishop and nun under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act.
“Section 4 of the MP Freedom of Religion Act says the complaint has to be by the person who was converted. Where did NCPCR get the locus? The MP Act is very clear – complaint by them (person converted), his parents, his siblings, blood relatives, etc. So, the Act is very clear,” CJI Chandrachud stated.
The court added that the state government can still file an independent complaint under the Juvenile Justice Act in connection with the alleged imparting of religious education in the shelter home.
Additional Advocate General Ankita Chaudhary, who appeared for the Madhya Pradesh government, submitted that the chargesheet had been filed and the accused were granted bail despite their absconding.
The High Court had noted that such a complaint can be registered only by a person who is related by blood, marriage or adoption, guardianship, or custodianship and not by the NCPCR.
The bishop and the nun were booked after a complaint by NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo following a visit to a hostel in Katni, where a copy of the Bible was found in the possession of students.
Acting on Kanoongo’s complaint, police in Madhav Nagar station in Katni district registered a First Information Report against the prelate and the nun.
Kanoongo alleged that the duo tried to convert children in the orphanage to Christianity and wilfully neglected them.
The diocese of Jabalpur manages the orphanage Asha Kiran (ray of hope) Children’s Care Institute at Katni railway junction and it housed 47 children.
Kanoongo filed the complaint a day after he led a team to conduct a surprise inspection of the orphanage.
The high court, in its order, questioned the FIR that charged the bishop and the nun with religious conversion.
Justice Vishal Dhagat, the judge, ordered that, if arrested, Bishop Almeida of Jabalpur and Sister Joseph should be released on anticipatory bail after they furnish a sum of 100,000 rupees each.
They should also provide two solvent sureties who too should furnish the same amount to the investigating officer or the trial court.
They also have to make regular appearances before the investigating officer or the trial court.
In a similar case on March 22, a case of fraud was registered against Bishop Almeida in Dindori, a tribal-dominated district in Madhya Pradesh. The court has restrained police from taking any coercive action against the prelate as the case is pending for hearing in the high court.
Church leaders accused Kanoongo of implicating Church leaders and those serving missionary schools, hostels and orphanages in false cases.