NEW DELHI: With the government stepping in, the two Kerala nuns arrested in Chhattisgarh on charges of conversion and human trafficking are likely to get relief soon. This was conveyed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah after a meeting with Kerala MPs on Thursday.
According to MPs who attended the meeting, Shah has assured them that the government will take immediate steps to avail bail for the nuns this week.
Speaking to this newspaper, an MP who attended the meeting said that Shah has directed that the trial court be approached again for bail for the two Catholic nuns. Shah also assured the MPs that the Chhattisgarh government will not oppose the bail application.
Parallely, the Chhattisgarh government and the legal team of the nuns will file an appeal in the High Court against the trial court’s decision denying bail.
The sessions court in Durg denied bail for the nuns on Wednesday and said they should approach the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Bilaspur. The court observed that it lacked jurisdiction because human trafficking charges fall under the NIA Act.
Quoting the Home Minister, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MP Haris Beeran told this paper that the NIA court does not have any jurisdiction for trying this case.
“If an offence under UAPA has to be slapped, then the concerned state government will have to give an application to the NIA director over here, who in turn will come to the Union Home Ministry and get an approval for an UAPA offence. In this case, nothing of that sort has happened. Therefore, the NIA court does not have any jurisdiction for trying this case,” he said.
“Yesterday's decision of the trial court was an illegal order,” added Beeran.
The nuns, Preeta Mary and Vandana Francis, were arrested on 25 July at Durg railway station, following a complaint by local Bajrang Dal member Ravi Nigam. The arrests have sparked a political storm, as Kerala MPs raised the issue in Parliament and demanded immediate intervention from the Centre to release them.