India’s Top Court Suspends Criminal Case Against Catholic Priest Over Religious Allegations

India’s Supreme Court has suspended criminal proceedings against Father Vineet Vincent Pereira, a Catholic priest in Uttar Pradesh, over allegations that his religious preaching hurt the feelings of followers of other faiths. The suspension, issued on April 10 by a bench led by Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, follows a request from Pereira to review a March 18 order from the Allahabad High Court that directed him to face trial.

The court served notices to the state government seeking its response to the case. Pereira, who is based in Varanasi, stated in an interview with UCA News on April 13 that he has “full faith in the judiciary” and expects to be “exonerated from the totally false charges” against him.

The High Court had dismissed Pereira’s appeal to quash the criminal case, which included charges of disturbing public peace, rioting, and outraging religious feelings through his preaching. The court noted that India is a secular state where people of various faiths coexist, and it deemed it “wrong for any religion to claim that it is the only true religion” as this implies a disparagement of other faiths.

Pereira has faced hostility from hardline Hindu nationalist groups in Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested on November 15, 2018, after members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a youth group, entered his home in Gohana town. They accused him of converting gullible individuals to Christianity and dividing the local community along religious lines.

Uttar Pradesh, which is among 13 states in India with stringent anti-conversion laws, passed the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act in 2021. The law was further strengthened in 2024, making unlawful conversion a non-bailable offense with penalties of up to 20 years or life imprisonment.

Since the law’s enactment, more than 500 Christians, including Catholic priests and pastors, have been arrested in the state for alleged attempts to convert people. Church leaders assert that the authorities have yet to prove a single case of illegal conversion.

Christians constitute less than one percent of Uttar Pradesh’s population of 200 million. The state, ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party since 2017, continues to face scrutiny over the enforcement of these laws.

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