Allahabad HC orders U.P. police to produce man detained by father after marriage with Muslim woman

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A view of the Allahabad High Court in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

The Allahabad High Court has directed Uttar Pradesh police to produce a man before the court in connection with a petition alleging that his father illegally detained him after he converted to Islam and married a Muslim woman.

Following Ayush Malik’s conversion from Hinduism to Islam, police in the State’s Shamli district registered a case under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 against Chandni Qureshi, the woman he married, and her father. The two were subsequently arrested in connection with the case and spent months in jail.

Justice Sandeep Jain passed the order on Wednesday (September 9, 2026) while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Mohammad Sultan, who claimed to be a friend of Mr. Malik. The petitioner alleged that his friend had voluntarily renounced Hinduism and embraced Islam without coercion, undue influence or inducement and subsequently married Chandni Qureshi.

According to the petition, Mr. Malik’s father, Devraj Singh Malik, opposed the marriage and later lodged an FIR against Ms. Qureshi and her relatives.

The petitioner further alleged that State authorities, in collusion with Mr. Malik’s father, facilitated his illegal detention and deprived him of his personal liberty.

After examining the petition, the High Court observed that the allegations concerning Mr. Malik’s alleged illegal detention and “....the purported involvement of the State authorities and their functionaries in facilitating such detention are serious in nature and, therefore, warrant immediate consideration by this court”.

The court issued notice to Mr. Malik’s father and directed the government authorities as well as the father to ensure Mr. Malik’s production before the court on September 16.

It further ordered that, if Mr. Malik is not produced in court, the State officials concerned must file personal affidavits explaining the reasons for his non-production and the steps taken to secure his presence.

In his complaint against Ms. Qureshi, Mr. Mallik’s father had alleged that his son, a B.Pharm graduate, met her in 2018 while being treated for a leg injury. The two later entered into a relationship. He alleged that the woman’s family influenced him to convert to Islam in 2023. He was reportedly renamed Mohammad Ali, and the nikkah was conducted in Delhi, despite resistance from the man’s family.

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