Allahabad HC: Adult Women Free to Choose Faith, Rs 25 Lakh Compensation for Illegal Detention

The Allahabad High Court has directed the release of two adult women who had voluntarily converted to Islam, holding that their father had unlawfully confined them because of their religious choices. The court also ordered the father and the Uttar Pradesh government to jointly pay ₹25 lakh in compensation for the violation of their fundamental rights.

Justice Sandeep Jain, hearing a habeas corpus petition on August 6, ruled that the siblings, aged 35 and 20, were entitled to decide their faith, residence, and personal affairs as adults. The court described the case as an exceptionally grave violation of constitutional rights.

“Ms. Diya Bhatia alias Zoya Diya Bhatia and Ms. Anshu Bhatia alias Amina Anshu Bhatia are declared to be free to reside at any place and with any person of their own choice, without any interference from respondent No. 4 (father of the girls) or any other person or the State and its functionaries,” the court said.

While ordering the compensation, the court permitted the State government to recover 50% from the father, Anil Kumar Bhatia, and the remaining 50% from any delinquent public servant whose acts or omissions contributed to the unconstitutional deprivation of the women’s liberty, subject to law and due process.

The High Court also directed the father not to interfere with either woman’s personal liberty, movement, residence, profession, or religious choices. State authorities were told to ensure that the women could live peacefully and to provide protection if required. The father was additionally ordered to hand over their passports, educational certificates, identity documents, bank passbooks, cheque books, conversion-related documents, and other original belongings within seven days.

In their plea, the women had alleged that their father filed a police complaint in Agra in May 2025 to stop them from making these choices. They further alleged that, with the help of local police, they were being illegally confined because they acted against their father’s wishes.

The sisters’ lawyer argued that the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 does not apply in this case because there is no evidence that the conversions were carried out through force, fraud, coercion, or deception. On the last hearing on July 31, the court had directed the State to produce the petitioners before it on August 6.

The State opposed the habeas corpus petition, arguing that the alleged conversions were connected to a larger organised conspiracy and that an investigation was under way into allegations of unlawful religious conversion. The State also pointed to a criminal case in which provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, had been invoked.

The High Court, however, said the legality of the alleged religious conversion and the legality of the women’s detention were two separate issues. It held that even if there were questions regarding compliance with the 2021 conversion law, that could not by itself authorise the continued confinement of two adult women by their father. The court also clarified that its observations were confined to the issue of illegal detention and would not affect the merits of the pending criminal proceedings or determine the legality or validity of the alleged religious conversions.

The court found the detention by their father, allegedly in collusion with the State, to be “wholly illegal” and without legal sanction. It said the State had also failed in its constitutional duty to protect their liberty. “Before parting, this court deems it necessary to reiterate that the Constitution does not confer upon parents a licence to incarcerate their major children merely because they disapprove of their faith, beliefs or personal choices,” the court observed.