A Christian couple convicted of trying to convert people to Christianity in the first such case in India has been granted bail, after they challenged the conviction in the high court of Uttar Pradesh state. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, the northern state’s top court, has granted bail to Pastor Jose Pappachan and his wife, Sheeja Pappachan, said Pastor Joy Mathew, who has been assisting the couple. “The court is yet to release detailed orders, but it is confirmed that they have been granted bail today,” Mathew told. Pappachan and his wife had moved separate applications requesting bail and to set aside the conviction of a special court in Ambedkar Nagar district, which deals with crimes against socially poor castes. In the Indian judicial system, convictions can be challenged in appellate courts, and allowing bail for convicts ordinarily means temporary suspension of sentence. The couple were sentenced on Jan. 22 to five years in jail. They were convicted of violating the state’s law that restricts conversion – the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2021.