New Delhi, India – Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed that efforts be made to approach the trial court again for the bail plea of the two Kerala nuns recently arrested in Chhattisgarh. This instruction follows a meeting with a delegation of Kerala Parliamentarians who raised concerns over the nuns’ arrest and the dismissal of their initial bail application by a Chhattisgarh sessions court.
The two nuns, Vandana Francis and Preeta Mary of the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) order, were arrested on July 25 at the Durg railway station in Chhattisgarh. They face charges of alleged forced conversion and human trafficking, under Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for trafficking and Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act, 1968. Their arrest occurred after local activists of Bajrang Dal, a Hindu right-wing organization, reportedly mobbed them, alleging an attempt to spirit away three women, including a tribal, for “forced conversion to Christianity.”
On Wednesday, July 30, a sessions court in Durg disposed of their bail application, citing a lack of jurisdiction to hear cases under human trafficking. This development has led to a major political controversy, with several MPs from Kerala raising the issue in Parliament and seeking central government intervention.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah met with a delegation of Kerala Parliamentarians, including UDF MPs N.K. Premachandran, Benny Behanan, and Francis George. During the meeting, Shah assured the MPs that the Centre would extend all possible help to secure the bail of the two Catholic nuns. He also indicated that he would meet with more Kerala Parliamentarians to discuss the issue in depth.
The Home Minister’s directive to revisit the trial court for the bail plea suggests a strategic legal approach to secure the nuns’ release, in light of the jurisdictional issues raised by the sessions court. The move is seen as an attempt to de-escalate the growing political row and address the concerns raised by the Kerala MPs regarding the “questionable charges” against the nuns.
