New Delhi:The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to bring on record details of the specific role attributed to an Islamic scholar accused of allegedly running a conversion racket in the state. Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui was arrested in September 2021 and he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in April this year.
A bench comprising justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Kumar asked senior advocate Garima Prashad, representing UP, to give a tabular statement on what is the specific role attributed to Siddiqui and also the documents which were placed before the high court. The Uttar Pradesh government had moved the apex court against the high court order granting bail to Siddiqui in a case lodged for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
Prashad contended that Siddiqui was granted bail solely on the basis that the co-accused were granted relief and claimed that he is the main accused. She contended that the probe has revealed that the national level network was working towards the objective of waging war against the Constitution and how it seeks to replace the Constitution with ‘Sharia’ law.