A Hindu follower of Christ in a northern Indian state has hailed a court ruling that indicted police for filing a false case against him under the sweeping anti-conversion law. “I lost my job and reputation because of the false case,” Abhishek Gupta, a resident of northern Uttar Pradesh, said. The court has ordered action against the police to prevent the recurrence of such illegal actions in the future. “It is a welcome step,” he added. The 41-year-old lab technician with a private hospital in Uttar Pradesh lost his job after police filed charges against him under the draconian anti-conversion law, enacted by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in India’s most populous state in 2021. The case was filed on May 29, 2022, when Himanshu Patel, a resident of Bareilly and district president of the right-wing Hindu group Hindu Jagran Manch, accused Gupta of leading a religious conversion program with an eight-team. The “police acted under pressure on the complaints made by persons like the plaintiff for their desire for publicity and took action in a futile attempt to give legal form to a baseless, fabricated and imaginary story which wasted valuable time, labor and money of not only the police but also the court,” said the trial court Judge Gyanendra Tripathi. The judge said their collective efforts had caused irreparable loss to the two accused and directed the senior superintendent of police, Bareilly, “to take appropriate legal action against the complainant, Himanshu Patel, as well as three people listed as key witnesses.”
The July 30 order, published in the media few days ago, acquitted the accused men. It sought action against the former police station in charge, “the investigating officer, and the jurisdictional officer who approved the charge sheet.” Gupta was arrested under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. Later, Kundan Lal, whose house Gupta used to visit, was also arrested. After he lost his job, he was forced to transfer his nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son from a reputed private school to another school as he was “unable to afford monthly fees.” The court has directed the victims to approach an appropriate court for compensation. “We are yet to decide on the compensation,” said Gupta. Though, not converted to Christianity, “I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ,” Gupta said. The court has sought action against police officials, the complainant and the witnesses for implicating Gupta and his friend in a false case in Uttar Pradesh, which occupies the second slot in anti-Christian violence in the country, according to Church leaders. The July 30 order was released to the media a few days ago. Gupta’s case is an exception where the court took a strong stand in favor of truth and justice, said a Church leader who assists Christians in fighting their cases in the court. “Several similar cases are pending in different courts,” the Church leader told on condition of anonymity. I realized the “helping hand of God during the 40-day stay” in jail, Gupta recalled. “God protected us even when our family members discarded us,” he added.