Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, Umar Gautam,12 others sentenced to life imprisonment in controversial ‘conversion’ case

Renowned Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, along with Umar Gautam and ten others, have been sentenced to life imprisonment by an NIA-ATS court for their involvement in “illegal conversion” cases. The verdict was delivered by Judge Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi.

The charges include sections of the Indian Penal Code such as 417 (cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153B (prejudicial imputations), 295A (deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings), 121A (conspiracy against the state), and 123 (concealing offenses). They were also convicted under the Illegal Conversion Act (sections 3, 4, and 5).