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The two Kerala nuns arrested in Chhattisgarh will remain in jail, as a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has reserved its verdict on the bail plea. The hearing was held on August 1 at an NIA court in Bilaspur. The court is now expected to pronounce its decision on August 2.
Sisters Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis were arrested on July 26 after Bajrang Dal workers accused them of trafficking and converting three young women to Christianity. The two nuns were detained at Durg Railway Station along with a young man, Sukhman Mandavi, and are currently lodged at Durg Central Jail.
During the hearing, the Chhattisgarh government's prosecution opposed granting bail. The NIA court directed the special public prosecutor to produce the case diary for detailed examination.
Advocate Amritho Das, representing the nuns, called the FIR “absolutely baseless”. “The FIR says there was a chance it was based on apprehension. That is how we placed it before the court. Our arguments were good enough. The only objection the prosecution had is that the case is under investigation. The prosecution was against the bail application. They said the investigation is ongoing.”
He added that the parents of the young women involved had already given statements affirming that the women had been practising Christianity for the past five or six years, suggesting the case would not stand scrutiny.
On July 30, a fast track session’s court (FTSC) judge, Aneesh Dubey, had ruled that the case falls outside his jurisdiction due to the human trafficking charges, and the case fell under the NIA’s purview.
Several MPs, including P Santhosh Kumar and John Brittas from the CPI(M), were present at the NIA hearing and confirmed they would remain in Bilaspur until the verdict.
Santhosh Kumar told the media, “When we met Amit Shah, he said that the nuns will get bail today. But the prosecution took the same stand as they did on July 25 and opposed bail. Our lawyer argued well with facts, so we are hopeful that the nuns will get bail tomorrow. The prosecution’s argument is based on their false pride.”
Meanwhile, the BJP in Kerala is struggling to maintain its hard-won inroads into the Christian community amid growing discomfort over the arrests. In an attempt to control the fallout, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar visited Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath in Thrissur on August 1.
Following the meeting, the Archbishop said, “We are glad that Rajeev Chandrasekhar came to the meeting and was the first to respond. The arrests are against the Constitution and religious freedom. Christians are insecure in India. Our only wish is that the nuns be released at the earliest. MPs from the Congress and other parties have also followed up. We have been in contact with them.”
Chandrasekhar, speaking to the media, said, “I sat with the Prime Minister the day before yesterday. He promised bail will be available soon and that prosecution will not oppose it. He even conveyed that to opposition MPs. This is a process. Let that process happen. Don’t politicise this issue. We don’t consider this politics.”
He added, “Chhattisgarh is a sensitive state. There are laws such as the Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Act of 1968 and the Private Placement Companies Act of 2013. What I understand is that though the nuns had documentation, they did not register on the portal [required for private job placements]. So when documentation was asked for and found missing, the authorities did their duty.”
He further added, “I don’t want to talk about Chhattisgarh politics, because I don’t know the sensitivity and politics of the state. Our aim is to help whoever asks for our help. Three days back we got a request from the Church. It is our duty to help.”