Overview
- The Allahabad High Court dismissed Rev. Vineet Vincent Pereira’s bid to quash a case for outraging religious feelings.
- The FIR from Muhammadabad in Mau district alleges he told prayer meetings that Christianity is the only true religion.
- Police filed a chargesheet in 2024 and a local magistrate took cognizance, so the case now moves forward.
- The court held that such claims prima facie disparage other faiths under Section 295A, which punishes deliberate, malicious insults to religion.
- The judge said magistrates only look for a prima facie case at this stage, a stance that leaves disputes like the investigator’s no-illegal-conversion finding to trial and could guide future speech cases.