A day after the Supreme Court quashed multiple FIRs against several persons, including the Vice-Chancellor of a university in Uttar Pradesh, registered in the Fatehpur district over alleged charges of “mass religious conversions” under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, legal experts said on Saturday (October 18,2025) that the ruling has far-reaching implications for the State.
They said a significant number of cases has been registered under the law, many of which can now be challenged. The judgment could prompt a reassessment of pending cases, encourage greater scrutiny of FIRs, and can curb the misuse of the law as a tool of persecution, particularly against minority communities, they said.
Supreme Court quashes multiple FIRs under Uttar Pradesh Act on religious conversion, says law not tool to harass innocents
While dismissing the case against Rajendra Bihari Lal, the Vice-Chancellor of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, the top court said that the FIR suffers from an “incurable legal defect”, having been lodged by a person otherwise not competent in law to do so as per the then prevailing statutory scheme.
