Allahabad High Court orders Catholic priest to face trial for allegedly offending Hindu sentiments through his preaching in Varanasi.
Newsroom (27/03/2026 Gaudium Press ) A state court in northern India has directed a Catholic priest accused of disturbing communal harmony to face trial, rejecting his plea for dismissal of a criminal case.
The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh ruled that Father Vineet Vincent Pereira, a priest based in the ancient city of Varanasi, must stand trial on charges of rioting, disturbing public peace, and outraging religious sentiments through his religious preaching. The single-judge bench remarked that while India’s Constitution guarantees secularism, it is inappropriate for any religious figure to claim that their faith is the “only true religion,” as such assertions could disparage others’ beliefs.
According to the court, those statements, if made with “deliberate and malicious intent,” fall under provisions of the Indian Penal Code meant to prevent the intentional insult of any religion or religious faith. The ruling, issued on March 18 and made public on March 26, stated that people of all faiths coexist under India’s secular framework and must respect that principle.
If convicted, Pereira faces up to three years in prison, a fine, or both.
Priest Denies Charges, Plans Appeal
Father Pereira expressed disappointment at the decision, calling the case “false and baseless.” He told UCA News on March 27 that he plans to appeal the High Court’s ruling before India’s Supreme Court.
“I never claimed my religion as the best,” Pereira said. “I do say that even Christianity is wrong if it is involved in injustice and violence. I know I am innocent and the charge against me is totally false.”
Pereira’s legal troubles date back to November 15, 2018, when he was arrested after members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini—a Hindu nationalist youth group—stormed his residence in Gohana town, Mau district. The group allegedly attacked the priest and several elderly residents living with him in what he describes as an ashram, accusing him of converting local Hindus to Christianity and sowing division within the community.
Christian Community Raises Alarm
Christian leaders in northern India have condemned the incident and subsequent court action, describing them as part of a broader pattern of harassment under anti-conversion laws enforced in several Indian states. Uttar Pradesh, governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), revised its anti-conversion law in 2021, introducing harsher penalties and expanded definitions of religious conversion.
A Church leader who provides legal aid to persecuted Christians in the state said that securing bail in such cases “has become very difficult,” noting that hundreds of Christians have been detained under similar accusations in recent years.
“Many false cases, such as the one Father Pereira is facing, take a great toll on Christians,” the leader told UCA News. “They have to waste a lot of time, energy, and money just to clear themselves of these baseless allegations.”
Despite over 500 Christians, including priests and pastors, being arrested and detained in Uttar Pradesh since 2021, Church sources claim that no prosecution has yet successfully proven an illegal conversion.
A Tense Religious Landscape
Home to more than 200 million people, Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous state. Nearly 80 percent of its residents identify as Hindu, around 20 percent as Muslim, and less than one percent as Christian. The small Christian minority has increasingly voiced concerns over shrinking space for religious expression amid rising polarization.
The case against Father Pereira underscores the ongoing friction between religious identity, free expression, and India’s constitutional promise of secularism—a debate that continues to shape the nation’s social and legal landscape.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCA News
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