Kerala Nuns Granted Bail in Chhattisgarh ‘Conversion, Trafficking’ Case | Here’s the Full Story
After going through the evidence and arguments presented, the NIA court found sufficient reason to grant conditional bail.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, has granted conditional bail to Sister Sujata and Sister Anisha, two Catholic nuns from Kerala, along with Santosh Baghel, a tribal youth from Chhattisgarh. Their arrests had earlier triggered controversy and accusations of political theatrics, especially concerning alleged religious conversions and communal unrest in the region.
The three were taken into custody in mid-July following allegations of forced religious conversions among tribal communities in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. The case was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The arrests sparked outrage from Christian groups and human rights organisations, who argued that the charges were unfounded and politically driven. Critics alleged that certain groups were misusing anti-conversion laws to target missionary workers and tribal populations.
After evaluating the materials on record and the submissions made, the NIA court decided to grant conditional bail. While the exact conditions were not made public right away, they usually include restrictions like not leaving the district without court approval, cooperating fully with the probe, and refraining from tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses. The granting of bail indicates that the court did not find adequate preliminary evidence to warrant continued detention under terror charges or acknowledged the possible hardship given the nature of the allegations.
This court ruling offers temporary relief for the accused and is being seen by their supporters as a small victory against what they consider to be the misapplication of legal provisions to curtail religious liberty and tribal rights.
Defence lawyer Amrito Das confirmed that three individuals in the case had been granted conditional bail.
Speaking to the media, the petitioner’s advocate B Gopakumar said that certain bail terms were also imposed, including that “they will not be allowed to travel abroad, they must surrender their passports, and they must not try to influence any witnesses.”
