All Cases Under Uttarakhand's Conversion Law Which Went to Full Trial Resulted in Acquittals: Report

New Delhi: Almost seven years after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand passed a law to what it termed as curbing “forced religious conversions”, an investigation by Indian Express has found that all the cases under the legislation which had gone to full trials, resulted in acquittals.

According to the newspaper’s investigation into cases registered under the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act (UFRA), data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows that until last month, 62 cases were registered by the Uttarakhand Police under the UFRA, which was passed in 2018.

As per court records, till September 2025, only five have gone to full trial and all these cases have ended in acquittals. Seven cases were dismissed mid-way after complainants turned hostile or there was lack of corroboration and failure by the prosecution to establish coercion or inducement.

Even as the cases which have gone to trial have resulted in acquittals, the number of cases filed under UFRA has been on the rise, with 20 cases registered in 2023 and 18 cases registered in 2025, till September, reported Indian Express.

Back in 2022, when the law was further strengthened and stringent provisions of 10 years of imprisonment and increased monetary fine was included in it through an amendment, the opposition Congress had said that the developments were part of the BJP’s long-term plan of dividing votes on religious grounds.

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