A priest in India is facing criminal charges after allegedly telling people at prayer meetings that Christianity is “the only true religion” — and a High Court has now refused to let him off the hook.
The Allahabad High Court recently dismissed a petition filed by Reverend Father Vineet Vincent Pereira, who was asking the court to throw out the case against him. He’s been charged under Section 295A of the IPC — a law that deals with deliberately insulting someone’s religion or religious beliefs.
The trouble started when an FIR was filed against him, claiming that during his prayer meetings, he repeatedly said Christianity is the only true religion, which hurt the sentiments of Hindus in attendance.
Justice Saurabh Srivastava, who heard the case, made a pointed observation — that in a secular country like India, where people of every faith live side by side, no religion should claim to be the only true one. Doing so, the judge said, essentially puts down every other faith, and that’s precisely the kind of thing Section 295A is meant to address.
The priest’s lawyers argued he was being falsely targeted, that the FIR didn’t really describe any crime, and that the Magistrate who took up the case hadn’t thought it through carefully enough before proceeding.
The state pushed back, saying the facts were disputed and needed to play out in a proper trial.
The court sided with the state on one key point — at this early stage, a Magistrate only needs to see whether there’s enough on paper to proceed. It’s not a mini-trial, and the accused doesn’t get to argue his defence just yet.
So the case moves forward.