The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Islamic scholar Kaleem Siddiqui in a case related to alleged illegal religious conversions, his lawyer told Scroll.
Siddiqui, one of the prominent clerics from western Uttar Pradesh, was arrested by the state’s Anti-Terrorist Squad in September 2021.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad had claimed that Siddiqui was running India’s “biggest [religious] conversion syndicate”. It also alleged that Siddiqui’s Jamia Imam Waliullah Trust was conducting illegal religious conversions in the name of running “communal harmony” programmes.
Siddique’s arrest was also noted by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent American government agency that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion and makes policy suggestions to the White House.
On Wednesday, Siddiqui’s lawyer Advocate Saif Ali told Scroll that his client will be released from jail after the completion of bail formalities.
“The bail was granted on the grounds of parity since co-accused Irfan [Shaikh] was granted bail by the Supreme Court,” he said.
Shaikh was granted bail by the Supreme Court in February. He was accused of “waging a war on India” through illegal religious conversions.
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